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Hindustan Times
11 hours ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
700 kg of explosives looted by Maoists recovered from Saranda forest
Bhubaneswar: The security forces have recovered 700 kilograms of explosive materials from the Saranda forest located near the Odisha-Jharkhand border, a week after 4 tonnes of industrial explosives were looted by Maoists. A senior police official of Rourkela said the recovery was made during an intensive combing operation on Wednesday, days after a large cache of explosives was looted by Maoists in Sundargarh district. The joint operation carried out by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Operations Group (SOG), and the CoBRA unit recovered the explosives in dense forest. Earlier, the security forces had recovered 2.5 tonnes of explosives in the Saranda forest on Monday. With this recovery, the total quantity of explosives confiscated has climbed to nearly 3.2 tonnes out of the 4 tonnes looted by Maoists on May 28. On May 27, eight armed Maoists had hijacked around 4 tonnes of gelatin from a truck from near a forested stone quarry at Banko of Sundargarh district in Odisha and drove the vehicle to a nearby forest where they unloaded the explosives and allowed the truck driver to go. The truck driver told the police that another 10-15 persons waiting inside the forest then looted at least 150 packets of explosives each weighing 15 to 25 kg. Police have arrested the owner of the explosive warehouse from where the explosives were on their way to the stone quarry and the driver who drove the truck. Police said the owner has two explosive licences including one in the name of his wife and owns a warehouse at the remote Itma in Bargaon block of Sundargarh district. On May 27, three trucks carrying explosives came out of the warehouse. One of the trucks was looted by Maoists while the owner kept the other two trucks hidden and lied to police that the explosives were delivered to clients. Police said over 25,000 pieces of gelatin sticks, 400 detonators and 22,500 metres of detonating fuse wires were seized from the vehicles. Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said the accused failed to produce any valid document for the explosives. Agarwal kept the trucks hidden with the intention to sell the explosives later at a higher cost.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- New Indian Express
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.
Hans India
4 days ago
- Hans India
Most of looted explosives recovered
Bhubaneswar: Security personnel on Friday recovered a substantial amount of the explosives recently looted by Maoists in Sundargarh district following a fierce gun-battle with the red rebels, police said. Around 200 packets of explosives, mostly gelatin sticks, were looted by Maoists at gun-point in K Balang police station area three days ago while those were being transported to a stone quarry for blasting rocks. The police had launched a search operation to locate the looted items. The joint efforts of nine teams of jawans belonging to Odisha Police's SOG and CRPF finally located the explosive materials in a dense forest in Jharkhand, around 3 km from Odisha border. 'We have recovered a substantial amount of the explosive materials looted from K Balang area,' Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said, adding that some other incriminating materials were also seized. The SP said there was no injury to any member of the search teams. Sources said the explosives were found at Tirilposh, located close to Saranda forest, on Odisha-Jharkhand inter-State boundary. The Odisha Police had earlier confirmed that Maoists from Jharkhand were involved in looting the explosives from a truck on Tuesday. According to the police, around 30 armed Maoists from Jharkhand hijacked the gelatin sticks-laden truck by holding the driver of the vehicle at gun-point. A day after the looting, Odisha DGP Y B Khurania and other senior police officers visited the spot and an NIA team started investigating the matter. Security forces from Odisha and Jharkhand, along with the CRPF personnel, immediately launched a massive search operation to retrieve the stolen explosives. Odisha Police have also constituted an SIT (Special Investigation Team) to probe into the incident. Meanwhile, police sources said the gunfight was underway between security personnel and red rebels in the dense forest along the Odisha-Jharkhand inter-State boundary.
New Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Senior cops discuss crime control, measures to prevent road accidents in Odisha
ROURKELA: Officials of the western range of Odisha Police discussed measures to control crime, tackle Maoist activities, curb road mishaps and strengthen policing at a meeting here on Friday. Held under the chairmanship of the DIG (western range) Brijesh Rai, the meeting was attended by Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani, Sundargarh SP Pratyush Diwakar, Keonjhar SP Kusalkar Nitin Dagdu, Rourkela superintendent of railway police (SRP) PC Badajena, special branch additional SP Sangram Tudu and other senior officers of the three police districts. Rai said in tandem with the special branch, the district police would work to avoid possible eruption of any law and order situation. The district police would also work in coordination with the GRP to avoid jurisdictional issues and ensure protection of railway properties. The DIG said, 'We hope to cut down road mishaps by 30-35 per cent from July to December this year. Detailed project reports have been prepared to achieve the targets in the three police districts.'
New Indian Express
25-04-2025
- New Indian Express
Three miscreants involved in loot held after brief encounter in Odisha's Rourkela
ROURKELA: Three armed miscreants were arrested following a brief encounter along the Odisha-Jharkhand border near Rourkela after they opened fire on a hotel owner and looted cash from him in the wee-hours of Friday. Sources said two of the three miscreants sustained gunshot injuries in counter police while they were trying to escape. Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said seven to eight miscreants armed with firearms and knives raided Dugru Dhaba at Sarubahal under Bisra police limits at about 11 pm on Thursday. They fired at the hotel owner and looted about Rs 20,000 and three mobile phones. He was injured as one bullet hit his leg, Wadhwani said. Following the incident, the SP said, Bisra police led by inspector M Kumbhar swung into action and tracked four of the miscreants escaping on a motorbike. When the police intercepted them, they opened fire on the officers. Acting swiftly, the police returned fire, during which two miscreants were shot in the legs and subsequently apprehended, according to the Superintendent of Police. While one managed to escape with the motorbike, another was nabbed after a brief chase. A firearm was seized from the spot and some empty cases along with live bullets were recovered. The SP said three more have been detained and other miscreants involved in the crime are being tracked. He said these criminal elements residing in bordering pockets of Jharkhand operate in both sides of Odisha and Jharkhand. Police said the injured miscreants, Baneswar Singh (20) and Sibanath Singh (26) have been admitted to Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) for treatment. The third criminal has been identified as Bishambhar Singh (25). Dhaba owner Dugru Xalxo has also been admitted to the hospital for a bullet injury in his leg. IG of Police Himanshu Lal said efforts are underway to nab others involved in the incident. The IGP warned the criminals and antisocial elements of Sundargarh and those coming from Jharkhand of stringent police action if they indulge in anti-social activities in Odisha side of the border. A case under sections 310(2) and 311 of BNS besides sections 25 and 27 Arms Act, has been registered. Earlier, a hardcore criminal of Anandpur in adjacent Jharkhand and his crime partner were arrested by the Rourkela police following a brief encounter near Akshayshila waterfall under Bisra block police limits. A SUV with Jharkhand registration number a 9MM pistol, a magazine and two mobile phones were seized.
