Two jawans of the CRPF's Cobra battalion were injured following an IED blast in Bulbul forests at Peshrar in Lohardaga district on Friday, police said.

Both Dilip Kumar and Narayan Das of Cobra battalion 203 were admitted to a private hospital in Ranchi around noon. Das is understood to have lost one of his legs.

Police sources said that the security forces were deployed for anti-naxal operations in the Bulbul forests on the basis of information received regarding yhe presence of CPI (Maoists) regional commander Ravindra Ganjhu’s squad. The IEd was planted undergound.

“Police and CRPF had launched a combing operation in the area on Thursday after getting inputs about the presence of about a dozen Maoists in the area. The IED blast occurred around 8am on Friday morning in which two of jawans of the Cobra battalion sustained injuries. Their condition is critical,” said an official of the Lohardaga police.

State police spokesperson A.V. Homkar told the media that the security forces had also destroyed rebel camps in the forest during their operation, and recovered several belongings such as uniforms and Maoist literature. “Police also destroyed few bunkers,” he said.