Ranchi: Two CRPF personnel were seriously injured in an IED blast in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district on Thursday and one of them died later in the course of treatment, police said. The two CRPF personnel belonging to its elite Cobra battalion were grievously injured in the blast near a forest between Tumbahaka and Sarjomburu villages in Tonto police station area of district during a combing operation against the Maoists by security forces, the police said.
CRPF constable Rajesh Kumar and Inspector Bhupendra Kumar were airlifted to Ranchi for treatment, IG Police Operations Amol V Homkar told PTI. "Rajesh Kumar of 209 Cobra battalion succumbed to his injuries. The martyred personnel hailed from Chattisgarh," he said. Bhupendra Kumar is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ranchi, the IG said.]
Homkar said the blast occurred at between 11-12 pm on Thursday when the Maoists detonated an IED targetting the Cobra battalion as the security forces personnel pressed forward in its operation against the left wing extremists. Search and combing operations are still on in the area by the security forces.
Apart from CRPF's Cobra's 209 battalion, Jharkhand Jaguar of the state police and district armed police were involved in the combing operation against the Maoists in the Kolhan region of the state, the police said. Several members of security forces were injured in the past few months in such incidents. In August two personnel of the Jharkhand Jaguar Force were killed in a gunfight with Maoists in the same area.
Nine Maoists were gunned down by security forces in 16 encounters in the state so far in 2023, while another 236 were arrested including a central committee member and area commanders till July this year.
