KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, Feb 22: A 23-year-old youth was killed in an IED blast in the Naxals-seized Kolhan forest division under the Goelkera police station area in West Singhbhum district about 160 km away from here on Tuesday evening.
The victim identified as Harish Chandra Gope was a resident of Meralgeda village in Goelkera and had gone to the jungle near his village for collecting firewood when the blast took place.
As the explosion occurred, the villagers got apprehensive of unknown danger but could not know exactly what had happened. It was after the paramilitary forces belonging to CoBRA and CRPF had entered the explosion spot to find the mutilated body of the youth. The jawans had subsequently recovered the body with the help of the villagers.
Apart from triggering the IED blast, the Naxals had blocked the Kuida-Soytaba road by felling a tree near Arahasa village. On the felled tree was a Naxal banner, and beside it were lying some wire and boxes with a rumour going around that there was an IED planted nearby.
According to police, the paramilitary forces when got the spot scanned having cleared the blockade with the help of a bomb-disposal squad, they found nothing as such.
According to police, on either side of Arahasa village are located two CRPF camps at Kuida and Soytaba. The rebels had some sinister plan to carry out by blocking the road at Arahasa.
West Singhbhum SP, Ashutosh Shekhar has in a press note condemned the cowardly act of the Naxals.
“The rebels belonging to CPI-Maoist outfit are killing innocent villagers having planted IEDs meant to blow up paramilitary forces. Such nefarious and destructive design by the coward Naxals has to be combated conclusively, ” the SP has said.
It may be mentioned here that a big squad of Naxals which has sneaked into the Kolhan forest division and adjoining Porahat forest division since January first week has triggered over a dozen IED blasts, causing injuries to as many as 15 paramilitary jawans engaged to flush them out from there.
