Fresh tranche of 2.5 tonnes of explosives looted by Maoists recovered from Saranda Forest in Odisha-Jharkhand border
ROURKELA: In a major breakthrough, the ongoing joint search operation along the Odisha-Jharkhand border on Monday led to the further detection and recovery of a fresh tranche of around 2.5 tonnes of explosives looted by members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) outfit.
Most of the industrial explosive packets, in the form of gelatin sticks, were found stacked in and around the paths used by Maoist operatives in the hilly and treacherous terrain of the dense Saranda forest in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.
Police sources informed that a few explosive packs were found lying in the forest on the Sundargarh side of the border in Odisha, under the jurisdiction of the Rourkela Police District (RPD), while the majority of the other packets were kept hidden in the Saranda forest close to the Odisha border.
It appeared that due to the immediate launch of the search operation after the loot, the Maoists did not get enough time and room to carry away the explosive packets to faraway locations inside the Saranda forest and hide them safely. Since the hijacking and loot of the explosive truck carrying about four tonnes of explosives on May 27 morning from the Banko forest of K Balang police station under the RPD limits, the joint search operation has been ongoing.
The Special Operation Group and District Voluntary Force (DVF), CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar and CoBRA from Jharkhand, are participating in the combing operation.
Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani, without specifying the spots of recovery, said a fresh tranche of 2.5 tonnes of explosives was recovered during the ongoing search operation along the Odisha-Jharkhand border. He said these explosives were looted by the Maoists on May 27.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
42 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Rourkela police takes warehouse owner on remand, security audit of explosive magazines starts
ROURKELA: The loot of the explosives-laden truck by the Maoist operatives has opened a Pandora's Box with violation of safety and security protocols on storage and transportation of explosives coming out in open in Sundargarh. Four days after the loot, two more trucks laden with illegal explosives were seized from Rourkela. All three trucks carrying unaccounted industrial explosives had started from Bargaon-based warehouses owned by Shraban Agarwal who was arrested with his truck driver Birsa Samad on June 3 (Thursday). Rourkela police on Thursday took Agarwal on two day remand. The 41-year-old businessman has one explosive licence in his name and another in his spouse's name. Police also questioned his wife on the day. While police have, so far, ruled out Agarwal's direct link to outlawed CPI (Maoist) outfit, it is probing the supply of his unaccounted amount of bulk explosives. It is also taking help of the State GST directorate to find out the details of explosives procured and supplied by Agarwal. An officer involved in the investigation said Agarwal had mentioned about supply of bulk quantities of explosives to one client of Balasore district and a second one but both have apparently denied. Alarmed by the developments, Western Range of Odisha Police has launched a massive exercise to conduct security audit of all explosive storage centres and magazines in the jurisdiction of the Rourkela, Sundargarh and Keonjhar police districts.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Chhattisgarh CM to brief PM on anti-Naxal ops, hails top leader's death
Just a day after security forces neutralised a top naxal leader, Sudhakar (alias Gautam), in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai departed for Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss the successful operations to finish naxalism, the path forward, while also discussing the state's development. CM Sai will be visiting Delhi today and tomorrow (June 7). "I am visiting Delhi for two days. I will return tomorrow. I will meet the Prime Minister and discuss the development of Chhattisgarh...I will also brief him about our fight against Naxalism and the successes we have had," CM Sai said just before departing for his flight. While hailing the recent successful anti-Naxal operation, which neutralised Gautam, a Central Committee Member (CCM), the Chief Minister saluted the jawans for their bravery in carrying out such operations. "Operations are going on continuously, and we are achieving success. Yesterday, as well, we had a success. One Central Committee Member (CCM) was neutralised by our jawans yesterday. We salute their bravery," he told reporters. This is the second such operations by security forces which has led to the neutralisation of a top Naxal leader. On June 5, officials confirmed that the body of Gautam was found, and on May 21, just over three weeks ago, the body of Basava Raju was recovered. A Central Committee Politburo member and CPI (Maoist) General Secretary, he was widely known as the "backbone of the naxal movement." Bastar's Inspector General P Sundarraj highlighted the two successes of security forces earlier today. "Based on inputs, the STF, DRG, and CoBRA joint teams were sent for operation. During the operation, exchange of fire between security forces and Naxals took place multiple times. After the exchange of fire, during the search, the body of a Maoist and an AK-47 weapon and a large amount of explosive materials and other arms and ammunition were recovered," the IG said. According to officials, Gautam was a senior Maoist leader responsible for various violent incidents that resulted in the deaths of numerous innocent tribal civilians and of security personnel. His death marks a major success for the security forces and is a significant blow to the Maoist leadership, particularly in the Dandakaranya region. His neutralisation is expected to cause a considerable setback to the already weakening strength of the banned and outlawed Maoist organisation. 186 Maoist cadres have been killed in counter-insurgency operations across the Bastar Range in 2025 so far. During the period 2024-2025, more than 403 Maoist cadres have been neutralised and their bodies recovered in the Bastar Range following multiple encounters between Maoists and security forces, according to officials.
Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Scroll.in
Maoist leader killed in gunfight with security forces in Chhattisgarh
A central committee member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Thursday, said Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. The member identified as Gautam, alias Sudhakar, had a bounty of Rs 40 lakh on his head, according to The Hindu. The central committee is the highest decision-making body of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). The gunfight began on Wednesday after a joint team of security forces acted on intelligence reports indicating the presence of suspected Maoist leaders in the Indravati National Park area, Bastar Range Inspector General of Police P Sundarraj told PTI. The Special Task Force, District Reserve Guard, both units of the Chhattisgarh Police and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action – a specialised unit of the Central Reserve Police Force – were involved in the operation, Sundarraj added. He said that an AK-47 rifle, along with a large cache of explosives, weapons and ammunition, was recovered during the operation. Sai stated on Thursday that apart from Sudhakar, ' several other ' suspected Maoists were killed during the security operation. He did not confirm the number of suspected Maoists killed. Sudhakar allegedly led the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist)'s technology team and the Regional Political School, an ideological training school for recruits, Sundarraj told The Hindu. This comes two weeks after Nambala Keshav Rao, the leader of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), was killed in a gunfight with security forces on May 21. He was among the 27 suspected Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur. लाल आतंक का अंत हो रहा है, नक्सलवाद अब अपनी अंतिम सांसें गिन रहा है सुरक्षाबल के वीर जवान कठिन चुनौतियों और दुर्गम परिस्थितियों के बावजूद नक्सलवाद के खात्मे के अभियान को ऐतिहासिक सफलता की ओर ले जा रहे हैं। आज बीजापुर में डीआरजी, एसटीएफ और कोबरा बलों ने वामपंथी उग्रवाद के खिलाफ… — Vishnu Deo Sai (@vishnudsai) June 5, 2025 According to the Chhattisgarh chief minister, more than 400 suspected Maoists have been killed in the Bastar region in 2024-'25. The police have stated that 186 suspected Maoists have been killed in gunfights with security personnel in the Bastar range in 2025. In 2024, 217 suspected Maoists were killed by security forces across Chhattisgarh. Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that while many of those killed in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region in 2024 were declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. The families claim that the persons killed were civilians.
