Chaibasa: A 52-year-old man died while his wife was injured after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) allegedly planted by Naxalites to harm police personnel exploded at Ichahatu area of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand on Wednesday morning, officials said.
The deceased has been identified as Krishna Purti, a local from Ichahatu. His wife Nandi Purti, 45, was injured due to the blast. Police said the incident took place which falls under the jurisdiction of Goilkera police station. West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar has confirmed the incident to the media.
As per a police official, the couple from Ichahatu village was on their way to their fields where they had planted Arhar crop on Wednesday morning when the mishap occurred. The couple while walking along the path stepped on the IED planted under the ground triggering the explosion.
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In the IED explosion, both the husband and wife were seriously injured. They were brought home from the spot to be sent to the hospital with the help of the villagers. However, the male died on the way to the hospital. Krishna was declared 'brought dead' by the doctors on arrival.
Nandi has been critically injured in the explosion and was undergoing treatment at the hospital, when this report was being filed. In September last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed that Maoists are trying to shift their base from the jungles of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh to the hills of Assam and other North-Eastern states.
The revelation was made by the NIA in a report to the union Ministry of Home Affairs. The claim was made following the arrest of Samrat Chakraborty, a senior Maoist leader, in Kalyani Expressway area in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal by the NIA.
