Chaibasa, March 18 (IANS): A CRPF sub-inspector was injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast during an encounter with Maoists in the Saranda forest of Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district on Tuesday, officials said. The injured officer, posted with the 134th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), was airlifted to Ranchi for treatment. The encounter occurred near Radhapada in the Jaraikela police station area, they added. The blast took place while a joint team of security forces and police were conducting a search operation in the forested and hilly terrain. This is the second such incident in the district this month. On March 5, three security personnel, including an assistant commandant of the CRPF’s CoBRA battalion, were injured in an IED blast near the Baliba forest area. Security officials say several top leaders of the CPI (Maoist) organisation, including Misir Besra, Anmol, Mochu, Anal, Asim Mandal, Ajay Mahato, Sagen Angaria, and Ashwin, are active in the Saranda and Kolhan regions along with their squads. Security forces have intensified operations in these areas. Over the past month, police and security forces in Chaibasa have demolished five Maoist hideouts and seized a large cache of weapons. In early March, they dismantled a Maoist camp in the Husipi forest under the Tonto police station area, defusing two IEDs weighing 10 kg each. A country-made pistol, two carbines, a rifle, 58 detonators, and other materials were also recovered. On February 24, security forces demolished two Maoist camps in the Tonto police station area, seizing 10 weapons, including a US-made M-16 rifle, and over 500 rounds of ammunition. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said time and again that the Maoist threat will be eliminated by March 31, 2026, and has commended the efforts of state police and security forces in combating Left-wing extremism.