Bhubaneswar: Security forces recovered another 700 kg of explosive materials from Saranda forest along the Odisha-Jharkhand border on Wednesday, marking a major breakthrough in the ongoing operation to trace the explosives looted by Maoists from Sundargarh district last week.This fresh recovery comes after 2.5 tonnes of the stolen consignment had already been seized, taking the total recovered so far to nearly 3.2 tonnes out of the 4 tonnes looted on May 28.The latest seizure was made during an early morning combing operation by a joint team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Operation Group (SOG), and COBRA commandos, who have been conducting extensive searches in Maoist-hit forest regions of Odisha and Jharkhand following credible intelligence inputs.The crisis began when armed Maoists intercepted a truck carrying licensed commercial explosives near the Banko stone quarry under K Balang police limits. Around 150 packets of gelatin sticks and other high-intensity explosives, weighing approximately 4 tonnes, were looted — triggering serious security concerns about their potential use in major attacks.In response, a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was roped in, treating the incident as a grave national security threat. The truck owner and driver were detained for questioning, while Shravan Agrawal, the owner of the explosive warehouse, was arrested on Tuesday after multiple rounds of interrogation.Meanwhile, Odisha Police, in coordination with their counterparts in Jharkhand and West Bengal, have heightened surveillance along Maoist-affected corridors. Checkpoints have been reinforced, and special patrols deployed to monitor transport routes and prevent illegal movement of explosive materials.With a significant portion of the stolen explosives now recovered, security agencies have shifted their focus to tracking down the remaining cache and dismantling the Maoist network behind the operation. Anti-Maoist operations are expected to further intensify in the coming days, with forces remaining on high alert across vulnerable regions.
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