Bhubaneswar, Dec 24 (IANS): Two personnel of the Special Operations Group (SOG), the elite commando force of Odisha Police, Sunday sustained serious injuries in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast during a combing operation against Left Wing Extremists (LWE) in Odisha's Sirla forest.

The injured personnel have been identified as Amiya Das and Prasant Jena.

S.P. Suvendu Kumar Patra told IANS that the SOG personnel were engaged in combing operations in the area for the last three days.

“On Sunday morning at around 10 am, the IED explosive fixed on a tree went off and two of our commandos were injured. One of the commandos who sustained eye injuries has been shifted to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar while the other commando who sustained splinter injury on his limbs is undergoing treatment at Kandhamal,” Patra said.

He said that it is suspected that Maoists are hiding in the jungle and the combing operation will continue in the coming days.

Patra said that there are no inputs regarding the casualties among the ultras.