Over 2.5 Tonnes Explosives Looted by Maoists Found on Odisha-J'khand Border

The ongoing search operation by security forces along the Odisha-Jharkhand border on Monday led to the recovery of a fresh stockpile of around 2.5 tonnes of explosives looted by members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) outfit on May 27.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Rourkela

Most of the industrial explosive packets, in the form of gelatine sticks, were found stacked around the paths used by Maoists in the hilly and treacherous terrains of the dense Saranda forest in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

Police sources informed that a few explosive packets were found lying in the forest in the Sundargarh side of the border under the jurisdiction of the Rourkela police district (RPD). Most of the packets were kept hidden in the Saranda forest near the Odisha border. It appeared that Maoists had enough time to hide the explosive packets deep inside the Saranda forest as security forces launched the search operation immediately after the loot incident.