Latest news with #OdishaPolice
Hans India
15 hours 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.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Cash rains out of Odisha govt employee's window as officials raid his home; seize over ₹2 crore
The Odisha Vigilance on Friday recovered more than ₹2 crore in cash and valuable assets from the possession of a government engineer during a raid at his home over suspected disproportionate assets. The Odisha Police's anti-corruption wing carried out raids at the residences and the office of Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, the Chief Engineer of Plan Roads at the state's RW division in Bhubaneswar, news agency PTI reported. Officials said that the search operations at these locations were still underway. Of the cash recovered from Sarangi, officials said, around ₹1 crore in cash was seized from his Bhubaneswar flat, while ₹1.1 crore was found at his residence in Angul. However, as soon as Sarangi's eye caught the officials entering his building, he decided to make it rain cash. He "threw bundles of cash in ₹500 denomination through the window of his flat in Bhubaneswar. The cash was recovered in the presence of witnesses," another official said. Sarangi is accused of possessing assets that are disproportionate to his income. Search warrants issued by the Special Vigilance Judge at Angul allowed officials to carry out simultaneous raids. An official said that the vigilance team located a two-storey residential house at Angul's Karadagadia and flats in Bhubaneswar, Siula, and Pipli in Puri district. Search operations were also conducted at Sarangi's ancestral house and relatives' home in Angul. Officials also raided his office chamber located at the Chief Engineer, RD Planning and Road, Bhubaneswar. In another financial crime-related case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a deputy director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Odisha for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh from a Bhubaneswar-based businessman. The arrested ED official, Chintan Raghuvanshi, allegedly demanded ₹5 crore from businessman Ratikanta Rout, who runs a stone-mining business in Dhenkanal, for giving him "relief" in a case registered against him. Raghuvanshi, a 2013 batch IRS officer of Customs and Indirect Taxes, was allegedly caught by the central agency during the trap operation it set up for him. Later, he was arrested after questioning, officials said.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
NIA takes over probe into explosives loot by ‘Maoists' in Odisha
The National Investigation Agency has taken over the investigation into the loot of a large cache of explosives by 'suspected Maoists' earlier this week. This comes as police and security agencies continue to look for the explosives, looted from a stone quarry in the state's Sundargarh district earlier this week. According to the police, an armed group of 25-30 'Maoists' looted four tonnes of explosive gelatin sticks from a stone quarry under K Balanga police limits in Rourkela police district Tuesday while an explosive-laden truck was on its way to the stone quarry at Banko. The quarry is inside the Saranda forests — an area bordering Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district. The group allegedly forced the driver to operate the vehicle but eventually released him. Odisha has witnessed significant fall in Maoist-related activities over the years with the presence of left-wing extremists limited to a few pockets only. Police sources said there was no Maoist-related activities in Sundargarh districts in the past 10 years. The Odisha Police, in coordination with the Jharkhand police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, have launched search operations. The truck has been found but explosives are yet to be traced, police said. 'According to the first information received from the driver, those who looted the explosives were Maoists. Based on the information received from the driver, we have lodged an FIR. The investigation is continuing and operational procedures are being followed in the area,' said Deputy Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Brijesh Rai. Odisha Director General of Police YB Khurania visited the site and held meetings with senior police officers to monitor the operations. The DGP also directed police to step up security measures in vulnerable areas. Police sources said a NIA team also reached Rourkela Thursday and launched a probe into the matter. The NIA team is expected to visit the site of the loot, and is likely to question the driver of the vehicle. The border area with Jharkhand has been sealed by the security agencies. Police sources said instruction has also been issued to the local police to probe the licence details and other information related to the stone quarry. According to the White Paper published by the state's home department, only four Maoist-related incidents were reported in 2024 compared to nine such incidents in 2023. As part of the anti-Maoist operations, as many as six extremists were killed by security personnel and eight others were arrested in 2024. Meanwhile, 24 ultras surrendered.
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
NIA team to probe loot of explosives by suspected Maoists in Rourkela
BHUBANESWAR: Two days after suspected Maoists hijacked and looted a truck laden with a huge cache of blasting explosives, the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) officers visited Rourkela on Thursday to probe the incident along with Odisha Police. "An NIA team has visited Rourkela to investigate the incident. Preliminary probe suggests the left-wing extremists from Maoist hotbed of Saranda forest in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand were involved in the loot of the blasting explosives," western range DIG, Brijesh Rai told the mediapersons. DGP YB Khurania who visited Rourkela on Wednesday to take stock of the investigation, has directed the police to beef up the security at vulnerable stone quarries. Sources said he has also instructed the senior officers to conduct a security audit of the stone quarries in such locations.
News18
3 days ago
- Business
- News18
Mother-Daughter Duo Held In Bengal For Rs 10,000 Crore Chit Fund Scam
Last Updated: The mother-daughter duo allegedly siphoned off funds from multiple states, including West Bengal, and laundered the money to China and Dubai via hawala channels Thousands were drawn into what appeared to be a lucrative investment scheme, lured by the promise of high returns and rewards for recruiting new members. The illusion fell apart when Odisha Police arrested a mother-daughter duo for allegedly running a fraudulent company and siphoning off nearly Rs 10,000 crore from the market. The accused, Deepika Bhanj and Tandra Bhanj, were taken into custody from Ramnagar in Purba Medinipur district in West Bengal for allegedly enticing investors with false promises of substantial profits, police officials said. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha police apprehended the two women from Hamirpur village under the Ramnagar police station and brought them to Bhubaneswar. Investigators suspect that the company may have connections with Bangladesh. It is alleged that the Bhanjs siphoned off funds from several states, including West Bengal and laundered the money to locations like China and Dubai through hawala channels. The alleged mastermind behind the scheme is Tushar Bhanj, husband of Deepika Bhanj, who had set up multiple companies years ago. He appointed his wife and daughter as directors in some of them while also holding a directorial position himself. According to police, the company later expanded its operations by opening offices in several locations. Tushar was reportedly arrested in 2024 during the investigation after a resident of Bhubaneswar filed a complaint upon not receiving their invested money. Since then, Deepika and Tandra had been evading arrest until their capture on Tuesday in Ramnagar, police said. Police sources indicate that Tushar's elaborate scam has defrauded over 15,000 people across multiple states, including Odisha, Bihar, Assam and Chhattisgarh, over the past three-four years, amassing around Rs 10,000 crore. Following an investigation, police traced the accused mother-daughter duo to Ramnagar in East Medinipur district. On Tuesday, Odisha Police conducted a raid and arrested them from Hamirpur in the Ramnagar-2 block. First Published: May 29, 2025, 13:58 IST
