A joint operation by security forces has resulted in the recovery of approximately 2.5 tonnes of explosives that were recently looted by Maoists in Odisha. The recovery comes after an armed group of 25-30 Maoists hijacked a truck carrying four tonnes of explosive gelatin sticks on May 27. The truck was en route to a stone quarry in Banko, located within the Saranda forests bordering Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district.

The operation involved multiple agencies, including the Odisha Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and the specialized Jharkhand Jaguars unit. The search was conducted in the Gandhamardhan Hill range on the Balangir-Bargarh district boundary. The Special Operation Group (SOG), a security force raised to combat Left-wing extremists in Odisha, and the District Voluntary Force also participated in the combing operation.

Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Brijesh Rai said that some explosive gelatin sticks were seized from a Maoist hideout in a forest near Koida in the Sundargarh district, on the Odisha-Jharkhand border, during a search operation on Friday.

According to a senior police official, the Maoists buried the explosives underground to conceal them from aerial and ground surveillance. Intense search efforts and intelligence inputs led to the successful seizure. Authorities are continuing their efforts to recover the remaining explosives.

Police sources indicated that the seized materials would be examined to determine their composition and origin. The Odisha Police have instituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident, while the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also launched a parallel investigation, dispatching a team to the site of the May 27 loot.

Odisha Director General of Police YB Khurania has been closely monitoring the operations, holding meetings with senior police officers to ensure the recovery of the looted explosives. The DGP has also directed heightened security measures in vulnerable areas.

Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani stated that the recovered explosives were found stacked in and around paths used by Maoist operatives in the hilly terrain of the Saranda forest in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. A few explosive packs were discovered in the forest on the Sundargarh side of the border in Odisha, within the jurisdiction of the Rourkela Police District (RPD), while the majority were hidden in the Saranda forest near the Odisha border.

The swift launch of the search operation is believed to have limited the Maoists' ability to transport the explosives to more remote locations within the Saranda forest.

In a related development, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Rourkela Police recovered two explosives-laden trucks parked suspiciously near a fuel station at Balughat in RN Pali, Rourkela, on June 1. These trucks were linked to the same warehouse in the Bargaon block of Sundargarh district from which the Maoists looted the explosives. The warehouse has been sealed since May 28.

Approximately 116 packets of gelatine sticks, 416 detonators, and 750 meters of charging electric wires were recovered from the two trucks. Police suspect that the warehouse owner, Shraban Agarwal, is involved in the illegal supply of explosives to stone quarries and mines for financial gain.

Authorities are investigating whether the full four tonnes of explosives were actually looted by the Maoists, as claimed by Agarwal and the truck driver, whose accounts are under suspicion due to inconsistencies in their documentation.