Woman killed, two others injured in IED blast in Jharkhand's Chaibasa
Chaibasa (PTI): A woman was killed and two others were injured in an IED blast in Jharkhand's West Singbhum district on Friday evening, police said.
The improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in the Saranda forest under the Jeraikela Police Station area, a senior officer said.
"A group of women had gone to the Kolbhonga area in the forest to pluck 'sial' (silk cotton tree) leaves, and one of them stepped on the IED planted by Maoists, and the device went off," West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Amit Renu told PTI.
One of them died while two others were injured, the SP said.
"The injured are being treated at the Manoharpur hospital, and their condition is reported to be stable. If the need arises, we will shift them to another hospital for better treatment," Renu said.
The SP termed this act as a "sign of desperation by the Maoists" due to the intensive combing operation being carried out against them by the security forces.
Police sources said that three women from Kolbhonga village had gone in the afternoon to pluck 'sial' leaves, and when they were returning home, Phoolon Dhanwar (18), one of the women, accidentally stepped on the IED, resulting in the blast, which led to her death on the spot.
Two other women, Salami Kundalna (28) and Barsi Dhanwar (35), were also injured, the sources said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Manoharpur Jaydeep Lakra said the body of Dhanwar would be sent for post-mortem examination to the Chaibasa Sadar Hospital on Saturday, as the blast took place in dense forest.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
