RANCHI: A CoBRA jawan of the 209 Battalion was injured on Thursday in an IED blast triggered by Maoists in West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. The jawan was airlifted to Ranchi for better treatment.
According to police, the IED explosion occurred at Kulapaburu, under the Jaraikela police station area in the Saranda jungles of Chaibasa.
Chaibasa SP Ashutosh Shekhar stated that during a search operation against Maoists, "an IED planted to harm the soldiers exploded, leaving one jawan injured."
Based on information about the Maoist squad of Misir Besra, who has a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head, a team from the 209 CoBRA Battalion was conducting a search operation on foot in the Jaraikela police station area of Saranda.
"When the search operation began in the Kulapaburu forest, an IED concealed in the ground exploded, injuring a CoBRA jawan. His colleagues immediately rescued him, extracted him from the forest, and transported him to a helipad," stated an official release from the Jharkhand police headquarters. After receiving primary treatment, the injured jawan was airlifted by chopper to Ranchi for further care, it added.
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.
Personnel from CRPF, CoBRA, Jharkhand Jaguar, and Jharkhand Police are all involved in the ongoing search operation against the Naxalites in the Saranda jungles.