Sundargarh: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded near a stone quarry in a Maoist-affected area of Odisha’s Sundargarh district on Saturday.
As per preliminary information, the incident took place during search operation conducted by CRPF and Special Operation Group (SOG) near the Banko stone quarry in the Kuari hill area under the jurisdiction of K Balang police station.
The jawan CRPF jawan martyred in the blast has been identified as Satyaban Singh (34) of Kishinagar in Uttar Pradesh. He was in the CRPF 134 battalion.
Singh sustained critical injury in the blast. He was rescued and rushed to a hospital in Rourkela where doctors declared him dead during treatment, sources said.
The IED, suspected to have been planted by Maoists, exploded when CRPF and SOG personnel were combing the area as part of an intensive anti-Maoist operation. The IED went off suddenly.
The area has been under increased security scrutiny following a major incident nearly three weeks ago, when Maoist cadres looted around five tonnes of explosive materials from the Banko stone quarry.
Since then, security forces have launched multiple search operations to trace the stolen materials and secure the region. Around four tonnes of the looted explosives have already been recovered by the forces. The IED blast occurred while the remaining explosives were being tracked through continued combing efforts.
