Chaibasa: A powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED), allegedly planted by the outlawed CPI (Maoists) to target security personnel engaged in anti-Naxal operations, was recovered from a forest in West Singhbhum district, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

In the course of the combing operation, the security personnel comprising CRPF, Cobra, Jharkhand Jaguar and the district armed police detected the explosive in a forest near the border of two villages, Marangponga and Dalaigara, on Wednesday, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of West Singhbhum district, Ashutosh Shekhar, said.

The IED, weighing 5 kg, was defused by the bomb disposal squad on the spot.

The district police have been engaged in a massive combing operation for several months after receiving information about the presence of top Maoist leaders, including Misir Besra, in the core Kolhan area of the district.

Besra carries a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head.