Security forces recover IEDs from forest in Jharkhand

Security personnel on Friday recovered two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from a forest near Rengrahatu village in West Singhbhum district, where 5 CoBRA commandos were injured in a gun-battle with Maoists the previous day, police said.

Chaibasa (Jharkhand): Security personnel on Friday recovered two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from a forest near Rengrahatu village in West Singhbhum district, where 5 CoBRA commandos were injured in a gun-battle with Maoists the previous day, police said.

Security forces comprising joint teams of the CRPF and Jharkhand Police were on an anti-Naxal drive when they came across the IEDs planted underground, it said in a release. The two bombs were later defused, police said. On Thursday, five commandos of a battalion of CRPF's jungle warfare unit CoBRA were injured in a gun-battle with activists of the banned CPI (Maoist).

The gunfight had broken out in a forest in Tonto area in the district, after the red rebels opened fire on approaching security personnel, SP Ashutosh Shekhar had said. The injured jawans were airlifted to a hospital in Ranchi, and their condition is stated to be stable, he said.

Security forces have been conducting a massive search operation in the area since the last two weeks to nab Maoist leader Misir Besra, who carries a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head, officials said. (PTI)