Chaibasa, Feb 10: Two persons were injured in an IED blast at the Saranda forest in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district on Tuesday evening, police said.
The incident happened near Tirilposi village in the Jaraikella police station area, they said.
“The villagers had gone to the forest to collect firewood and accidentally stepped on the IED, suspected to have been placed by Maoists to target security forces,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Amit Renu told PTI.
“We are trying to ascertain the severity of the injuries, after which it will be decided whether to arrange for their treatment in West Singhbhum or shift them to Ranchi,” he said.
Renu said that though security forces have gained an upper hand after the elimination of top Maoists in the Saranda forest recently, the IEDs placed by them are still a threat to the villagers.
Jaraikella police station’s officer-in-charge Amit Kumar Paswan said that both the injured are men and they were trying to get details about the nature of the injuries and other details, as the place of occurrence is remote.
As per police records, 30 villagers and 10 security personnel have lost their lives in Naxal violence in the district in the last three years. (PTI)
