RANCHI/NEW DELHI: Naxalites had surgically inserted an improvised explosive device (IED) in the body of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan who was killed three days back in an ambush in Jharkhand 's Latehar district.

Doctors conducting the autopsy of the CRPF troopers at a government hospital in Ranchi were shocked when they found a 1.5 kg unexploded bomb stitched inside the abdomen of 29-year -old Constable Babulal Patel who was among those killed in the encounter with Naxals .

Jharkhand DGP G S Rath said the body of Patel with the IED implanted in it was recovered by patrol squads yesterday evening from near the encounter site and the postmortem was scheduled for today morning.

"The doctors became suspicious when they saw the body of the CRPF jawan. The bomb disposal squad was then called and the body was placed in an open field," Rath told .

Later, the IED was defused by the bomb squad, a senior CRPF official said.

"The IED was a pressure bomb prototype which explodes on being disturbed," he said.

Thirteen people--nine CRPF personnel, one personnel from the state's special anti-Naxal force 'Jharkhand Jaguars' and three civilians--were killed in the encounter that occurred on January 7.

Earlier, Naxalites in Latehar district of Jharkhand put the body of a critically injured and incapacitated jawan over a landmine following a fierce battle between the Maoists and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Monday morning, in an action reminiscent of a scene from Oscar-winning Bosnian war film "No Man's Land". On Tuesday evening, security forces along with local villagers found the jawan's body deep in Karmatiya jungles. However, as soon as the body was picked up, the mine exploded, killing three villagers and blasting the jawan to smithereens.

The film No Man's Land had ended with an injured Bosnian soldier lying on the mine while still alive with no hope of rescue. Bosnian Serbs had put his body over a landmine while he was unconscious.

Sources said, in all probability the jawan bled to death while lying on the mine adding that even if he had gained consciousness and tried to move, he would have died. Following the blasts, the forces retreated on Tuesday night and the combing operation was restarted with reinforcements on Wednesday.

On the trail of senior CPI (Maoist) leader Arvindji, around 300 soldiers from CRPF and Jharkhand Jaguars were combing Karmatiya forests when they were ambushed by a contingent of around 200 Maoists - led by a woman - who were firing at them from hill top. The forces had taken the only narrow path that cut through the jungle and then opened into a plain with hills surrounding it. That the Maoists were in Army fatigues confounded matters. About 600 Maoists are suspected to be hiding in the jungles moving between Bihar and Jharkhand.

