CRPF inspector, jawan injured in IED blasts in Jharkhand

Chaibasa: A CRPF inspector and a jawan were injured on Friday when two IEDs exploded in Saranda forest in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, a senior police officer said.

The improvised explosive devices were suspectedly planted by the proscribed CPI (Maoist), which is observing a ‘resistance week’ in Jharkhand, to target security forces, he said.

DIG (Kolhan) Anuranjan Kispota told PTI that a CRPF inspector and a jawan suffered injuries in the explosions in Babudih area under Jaraikela police station limits.

The injured inspector was shifted to a hospital in neighbouring Rourkela in Odisha, while the jawan was on the way to a medical facility, he said.

The Jharkhand Police has strengthened security across the state in the wake of the ‘resistance week’ of the CPI (Maoist), which began on October 8. The outfit has also called for a bandh on October 15.

Inspector General (Operations) Michael Raj had on Thursday told PTI that 12 battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force and 20 groups of the Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP) and India Reserve Battalion (IRB) have been deployed to boost security.