Bhubaneswar: A nine-year-old girl from Sundargarh district was killed in an IED explosion reportedly planted by Maoists while she was collecting leaves in a forest near the Odisha-Jharkhand border.
The girl, identified as Siria, a resident of Jaraikela in Bisra block, was a Class III student at Digha Primary School.
According to reports, Siria had accompanied her father and a few villagers to the neighboring Saranda jungle in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand on Tuesday morning to collect firewood. While moving through the forest, she accidentally stepped on an improvised explosive device, triggering a blast that killed her instantly. The other villagers escaped unharmed.
The explosion occurred just 3 km from the Digha CRPF camp, prompting police to suspect that the IED may have been planted to target security forces.
Upon receiving the information, Jharkhand police rushed to the spot, and a bomb disposal squad also arrived. The girl’s body was recovered and search operations were launched in the area.
