RANCHI: Two CRPF personnel of the 209 CoBRA Battalion were injured on Friday in an IED blast planted by Maoists in the Saranda jungles of West Singhbhum. They were immediately airlifted to Ranchi for better treatment.The incident occurred around 11 am near Hindukocha village in the Saranda Forest under Jaraikela police station during a search operation conducted by a joint team of state police and CRPF’s CoBRA Battalion.The injured personnel have been identified as Ram Pravesh Singh and Chhotu Kashyap. Following the incident, the search operation in the area has been intensified, with joint teams of Jharkhand Police and CRPF carrying out combing operations to trace the Maoists.According to police, the Maoists had planted IEDs in the forest to target security forces.Earlier, a major rail accident was averted when Maoists blew up a section of railway track, damaging it with an explosion between Karampada and Rengda railway siding under the Chakradharpur Rail Division late on the night of August 2. The movement of goods trains was halted for several hours due to the damage.In another incident on July 3, a gangman was killed and another injured in an IED blast on the railway track near Vimalgarh Railway Station at the Odisha-Jharkhand border under the Chakradharpur Rail Division while they were removing a banner from the track.Maoists are now largely confined to the Saranda jungles in Jharkhand, having been driven out from other parts of the state. Estimates suggest that around 85–90 Maoists are hiding in the Saranda jungles, where they have planted thousands of IEDs, posing a major challenge for security forces.The state police launched a joint operation in the Saranda and Kolhan jungles in November 2022 following information that senior Maoist leaders, including Misir Besra and Patiram Majhi alias Anal Da, were hiding in the forest stretch, which is considered strategically important.
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