KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, Jan 12: Close on the heels of the IED blast resulting in injuries to six CRPF jawans in a jungle under Tonto thana area of West Singhbhum district on Wednesday, three more jawans were injured in a similar blast at the same forest stretch on Thursday afternoon.
The three jawans who were injured today belong to CoBRA batallion 209 and were identified as Saurabh Kumar, A Santosh and Amaresh Singh.
All the three injured were air-lifted in a helicopter to Ranchi where they are being treated at a hospital where their condition is stated to be out of danger.
It may be mentioned here that CRPF had on Wednesday launched a search operation on an intelligence input that a large number of naxals have anchored in a jungle near Tumbahaka village under the naxal-infested Tont thana area. During the search operation, the rebels suspected to be from the Misir Besra’s squad of the outlawed outfit, the CPI-Maoist had triggered an IED, causing injuries to six jawans.
Soon after the blast, the naxals had rained shots on the paramilitary forces, leading the later to retaliate the fire and calling in more forces for the anti-insurgency operation there.
Since yesterday afternoon, separate troopers from CoBRA, CRPF and Jharkhand Jaguar had started intensified joint operation at the jungle near Tumbahaka village. While the search operation was in progress at the jungle, one more IED explosion was triggered today, causing the three CoBRA jawans to sustain injuries.
It is said that apprehending offensive from the paramilitary forces, the naxals had planted a number of IEDs in and around the jungle near the Tumbahaka village.