NIA probes Maoist explosives loot

TWO days after suspected left-wing extremists (LWEs) looted a huge cache of explosives from a truck headed to a stone quarry in Sundargarh district, the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) on Thursday joined the investigation considering the sensitive nature of the incident.

- ASISH MEHTA/PRASANJEET SARKAR @Bhubaneswar/Rourkela

Security forces in neighboring states have doubled down on anti-Naxal operations by targeting and eliminating key leadership of the outlawed outfit; the loot has come as a worry since Maoists operating in Jharkhand's Saranda forests rely on improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to carry out attacks. This prompted Odisha Police and its anti-Naxal agency Special Operation Group (SOG) to launch a major flush-out drive along the bordering region.