KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, May 19: A 14-year-old boy was killed in an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast at Rengdahatu village under the Tonto thana area in West Singhbhum on Thursday evening.
Identified as Nara Koda, the boy was a resident of Rengdahatu and was returning home having collected firewood from the nearby jungle when the incident took place.
As the Rengdahatu is located in a faraway place, the villagers could not inform the police immediately. A police party supported by CRPF personnel rushed to the spot having got the information on Friday morning and subsequently recovered the body.
Accompanied by other family members, the boy had gone to collect firewood from the adjoining forest stretch on Thursday afternoon. While returning home, he accidentally stepped on one of the pressure IEDs, causing it to go off. As a result of the explosion, the boy died instantly.
The scene of the IED blast took place in the Kolhan forest division which is presently in the grip of CPI-Maoist rebels.
The naxals have seized the dense forest having planted an unspecified number of IEDs in and around the Kolhan forest division since January this year, causing as many as nine villagers, including children and women to get killed in the blasts so far. Over a dozen jawans belonging to CRPF and other paramilitary forces were injured in the IED blasts while trying to flush the Naxals out from the seized forest cover.
