Fifty-one IEDs were found in a search operation in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district on Thursday after three para-military jawans were injured, police said.

The IEDs, planted by banned Maoists, were recovered at a forest near Meralgada village in Goilkera police station area, Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar said.

A bomb disposal squad defused the explosives at the spot, he said, adding that the search operation was still underway.

Three CRPF jawans of the 60th battalion were injured when Maoists triggered an IED blast at the forest around 11 am.

Acting on a tip-off that Maoist leaders have assembled at the forest, a search operation was launched by the security forces and during that time, the IED exploded.

Three jawans, identified as Rakesh Pathak, BD Anal and Pankaj Yadav, were injured in the explosion, Shekhar said.

They were airlifted to a hospital in Ranchi where they were undergoing treatment, he said.

The conditions of the three jawans were stated to be stable, he added.