CoBRA officer and jawan injured in Jharkhand IED blast, major Maoist cache seized in Chhattisgarh

An assistant commandant of the Commando Battalions for Resolute Action and a jawan were injured on Sunday in a powerful IED blast during an anti-Maoist operation in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, highlighting the continuing security challenge in Maoist-affected regions.

The incident occurred in the Saranda forest, a known Maoist stronghold , when an improvised explosive device allegedly planted by the banned CPI (Maoists) detonated during a search and combing operation. The blast injured the assistant commandant, who was immediately evacuated from the area and airlifted to Ranchi for advanced medical treatment , police said. His condition was reported to be stable. During subsequent combing operations, a CoBRA jawan also suffered bullet injuries in follow-up action and was evacuated for treatment.

Security forces swiftly cordoned off the blast site and launched a massive search operation to trace the Maoists involved and to detect any additional explosives. Officials said this was the third such blast in the Saranda forest region within a fortnight, underlining the persistent threat posed by insurgent groups despite intensified counter-insurgency efforts.

In a significant breakthrough in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, security forces on Saturday recovered more than Rs 46 lakh in cash, arms and ammunition from Maoist hideouts in Gariaband district. Acting on intelligence provided by surrendered Naxalites, a joint team of the district police’s E-30 unit and the District Reserve Guard conducted an intensive search in the forested and hilly Sanpsati area under Mainpur police station limits.

The operation led to the seizure of cash, firearms, barrel grenade launcher shells, detonators, a laptop, mobile phones, and Maoist literature, believed to belong to senior cadres of the Dhamtari-Gariaband-Nuapada division. Officials said sustained operations and rehabilitation drives have weakened Maoist networks across central India , resulting in the neutralisation or surrender of the entire listed cadre of the division active in the region until January this year.