A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Assistant Sub-Inspector was martyred in an IED blast triggered by suspected Maoists near the Jharkhand-Odisha border on Saturday.
The incident occurred during a joint search operation being carried out against Maoists in the area. Satyawan Kumar Singh, an ASI in the CRPF 134 Battalion, was seriously injured in the IED blast and was sent to a hospital in Rourkela for treatment.
The ASI succumbed to his injuries during treatment on Saturday, the Jharkhand Police Headquarters confirmed. In honour of the ASI, a wreath-laying ceremony was organised at the 133rd CRPF Battalion on Saturday.
Sources said that Odisha Police, CRPF and Jharkhand Police were jointly conducting an operation along the Jharkhand-Odisha border when an IED, planted with the aim of targeting security forces in the forested and hilly area under the jurisdiction of Belang Police Station in Sundargarh district, exploded, critically injuring the CRPF jawan.
Notably, the area has been placed under heightened security surveillance following a major incident nearly three weeks ago, in which Maoist operatives stole around five tonnes of explosives from the Banko stone quarry.
In response, security personnel have undertaken several search operations aimed at recovering the stolen explosives and stabilising the area.
During these operations, security forces managed to recover nearly four tonnes of the stolen explosives. The IED blast occurred while efforts to locate the remaining material were still ongoing through continuous combing missions.
According to sources, the explosion may have been caused by one of the stolen devices or could have been a deliberate ambush set by the Maoists to obstruct the recovery operation.
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