RANCHI: A 40-year-old man, who sustained grievous injuries on being exposed to an IED blast in Saranda forest on Thursday morning, succumbed to his injuries on Friday.
The deceased, identified as Sunil Surin, was a resident of Markanda village under the Naxal-infested Jeraikela Police Station and had sustained injuries after stepping over an IED pressure bomb while walking through the Hiragiri forests under the Jeraikela Police Station area.
According to police, the residents of Markanda village had rescued him after he was critically injured in the IED blast. They brought him to his house for treatment instead of taking him to the hospital or informing the police.
“Surin succumbed to his injuries at home on Friday afternoon. The family members had then informed the police, following which, the body was shifted to Chaibasa Sadar Hospital for postmortem,” stated a press communiqué released by Chaibasa Police.
Notably, the top leadership of the CPI (Maoist) organisation is believed to be camping in the Saranda jungles. To protect their senior leaders from security forces, the Maoists have laid a network of pressure bombs, which security personnel have been working to remove for the last year.
CRPF, CoBRA, Jharkhand Jaguar, and Jharkhand Police personnel are all involved in the ongoing search operation against the Maoists in the Saranda jungles. As of now over two dozen villagers including women have lost their lives on being exposed to the IED blasts in the Maoist-infested West Singhbhum.