Ten CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) commandos belonging to its elite COBRA battalion were killed and five others injured in a Naxal IED blast in the jungles of Bihar's Aurangabad district, officials said. The jawans of the COBRA unit were ambushed in the IED blast after which an encounter started on between the two resulting in the killing of three naxals by late night, they said.

"While eight personnel were killed on the spot, two others succumbed to their injuries when they were being evacuated," a senior official said.

The incident took place near the border of Gaya and Aurangabad district on Monday evening when CRPF officials along with cobra commandos were returning back from a mission. The incident was reported from Chakarbanda-Dumarinala forests, bordering Gaya. Some arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, INSAS rifle and under barrel grenade launcher were also recovered from the site.

"The search operation has been going on since last two days after we had a tip off that a group of Maoists led by 'Sandeep Ji' of Bihar Jharkhand Special Area Committee (BJSAC) was moving there. On Monday the ultras started blasting IEDs and the security forces who went inside the jungle got trapped. They started firing indiscriminately after the blast of the IEDs," said a senior officer.

The CRPF jawans were on a search operation, which was lead by 205 battalion cobra commandos. At the time of the blast the jawans were crossing Dumri Nala when naxalites attacked them with IED device. Around 25-30 explosion was heard in the region.

By Premji