West Singhbhum district police along with paramilitary forces on Saturday foiled a subversive act by CPI-Maoists at Gitilipi village, where they had planted a series of can bombs all connected to each other.

The 34 IEDs were detected during a search operation on the Gitilipi and Maridiri village in the rebel-affected area, after the police received an intelligence input, saying that the naxals had laid several can bombs on a mud road between Gitilipi-Maridiri.

“Acting on the tip off, we set up a police team which with the support of CRPF’s 60 battalion started a search operation by following the standard operating procedure (SOP). After an hour-long search, the police and paramilitary forces succeeded to detect the can bombs buried under the mud-road,” West Singhbhum superintendent of police, Ajay Linda told The Telegraph Online.

“The IEDs were laid on a stretch of 150 meters. Soon a bomb disposal squad was pressed into service and all the bombs detonated after they were recovered from under the road,” Linda added.

He revealed that the naxals had connected the bombs with each other by Codex wire, which has also been recovered.

The SP said the Gitilipi-Maridiri road is used largely by the villagers and the paramilitary forces also use the road frequently for carrying out anti-insurgency operations.

“It is evident that the Maoist rebels had laid the bombs, which were of different intensity. These were meant to inflict damage to the paramilitary forces. Had we not got the intelligence input about the bombs, there would have been heavy casualties of the paramilitary forces and also of the villagers," said the senior police officer.

Linda informed that the police have registered a case against unidentified naxals with the Goelkera thana in the evening.

According to police sources, people living in the Goelkera area have started cooperating with the police and paramilitary forces increasingly.

"It is a good sign that the people residing at the naxal-infested area are giving information about their activities. If the locals continue to pass on such vital information, it can be said that the naxals are on the verge of elimination," a senior police officer told us.