A 65-year-old woman was killed when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by suspected CPI(Maoist) cadres went off in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district on Friday, a senior police officer said.
The IED was planted underneath a kachcha road inside Jamargada forest to target security personnel on anti-Maoist operations.
The victim was identified as Gangi Surin, a resident of Patahatu village, who went to the forest to pluck kendu leaves when the IED exploded killing her, the officer said.
The district police and CRPF personnel recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem examination.
So far, five innocent people including two women had lost their lives in IED explosions in Tonto and Goilkera police station areas of the district after a major operation was launched against the red rebels in January.
Besides, over 18 security personnel suffered injuries in the blasts triggered by Maoists.
The incident occurred two days after 10 police personnel and a civilian driver were killed after the Maoists blew up the vehicle in which they were travelling in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.