West Singhbhum: 52-year-old man killed in IED blast, wife injured  

Jamshedpur, March 1: The spectre of violence looms large in Naxalite-affected areas of West Singhbhum following death of a 52-year-old man, who was killed while his wife was seriously injured as an IED exploded in a jungle under the Goelkera police station area of West Singhbhum district on Wednesday morning.

The victims who were residents of Ichahatu village in Goelkera were busy harvesting crops in a field falling inside the adjoining Chundri jungle under the Kolhan forest division as the blast was triggered.

Soon after the blast, a company of CRPF personnel entered the forest patch and rescued the injured and recovered the body identified as that of Krishna Purty. The police subsequently took the injured woman identified as Nandi Purty to a nearby health centre.

On earlier occasions also, villagers were killed in the IED blasts during a period starting in January. Apart from the innocent villagers, as many as 15 paramilitary jawans sustained injuries during the ongoing anti-insurgency operation there began on January 11.

West Singhbhum SP, Ashutosh Shekhar has termed the act of triggering the blast resulting in the death of an innocent villager as cowardice, adding that the naxals hiding in the jungle would be flushed out soon.

A police official said they have pressed CRPF personnel in the Goelkera forest range for carrying out a search operation for the rebels and their sympathisers, adding that as this is the period the rebels have tried to make their presence triggering a sense of fear among the villagers.

Sources informed that the police have decided to ensure strict vigil and deploy additional security forces in the fringe areas. “Security has been beefed up in the area and they were keeping strict vigil on movement of the Naxalites. The plan is to keep a tab on the camps being operated by ultras,” said another official.

Police said that the security has been beefed up in the area and they were keeping strict vigil on movement of the Naxlites. “There has been a substantial increase in Maoist activities in this. We are not much concerned about small acts of violence because these activities can be controlled by us, but the bigger attacks are worrisome,” said a security official.