Jharkhand: Woman Killed In IED Explosion During Anti-Naxal Operation In West Singhbhum

The event took place in a forest near Maradiri village, according to the police officer, who further said that the Maoists strategically placed the IED to target security forces.

New Delhi: An elderly woman lost her life due to the detonation of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) purportedly planted by the banned CPI (Maoists) in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, a senior police official said on Friday, news agency PTI reported.

The event took place in a forest near Maradiri village on Thursday, according to the police officer, who further said that the Maoists strategically placed the IED to target security forces. Randai Purty, aged 56 and a resident of Maradiri village, was collecting firewood in the forest when the explosive device detonated.

Upon receiving the report, a police team arrived at the spot on Friday, recovered the body, and dispatched it to Chakrafharpur Sub-Divisional Hospital for a post-mortem examination, Ashutosh Shekhar, the Superintendent of Police (SP) for West Singhbhum district, said.

Condemning the incident, SP Ashutosh Shekhar said that the Maoists' resort to targeting innocent villagers signifies their desperation, especially considering the significant containment of their activities due to the ongoing anti-Naxal operation.

"In the course of the ongoing anti-Naxal operation, security personnel discovered three IEDs concealed by Maoists in the forest area near Husipi village of the district on Friday," the SP said.

Each IED, weighing approximately 5 kilograms, was intended to target the joint combing operation team, consisting of CRPF, Cobra, Jharkhand Jaguar, and district armed police. However, the bomb disposal squad successfully neutralised all the IEDs on-site, PTI reported.

Security forces also dismantled a temporary camp belonging to the left-wing extremist group in the forest near Sandiburu village. During the operation, authorities seized materials for making IED and other related items from the camp, which had the capacity to accommodate approximately two dozen individuals, police said, as reported by PTI.

Earlier on Thursday, security personnel had also destroyed two IEDs located in a forest between Haathiburu and Lowabeda village as part of their ongoing operation.