NIA launches probe into looting of commercial explosives by suspected Maoists in Odisha

By C.B.Singh

Bhubaneswar, May 29: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has launched an inquiry into the high-profile looting of commercial explosives in Odisha’s Sundargarh district, suspected to be the handiwork of Maoist insurgents.

An NIA team reportedly visited the site on Wednesday, where armed assailants hijacked a truck transporting a large consignment of explosives and vanished into a nearby forest. Sources said the central agency took over the investigation in view of the incident’s scale and its potential links to Naxalite activity.

The attack took place under the jurisdiction of K Balang police station, about 90 km from Rourkela and close to the Saranda forest in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district — a region historically known as a Maoist stronghold.

While Odisha Police has intensified combing operations and sealed the border with Jharkhand, the NIA’s involvement underscores the gravity of the incident, which is now being treated as a national security concern.

Intelligence sources fear that the stolen explosives — reportedly 150 packets of gelatin sticks — could be used to orchestrate attacks, particularly at a time when Maoist influence has been waning in neighbouring Jharkhand.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the truck, carrying the explosives to a stone quarry in the Banko area, was intercepted near a forested stretch on Tuesday. At least eight armed men reportedly stopped the vehicle and drove it about a kilometre into the forest. There, they were joined by around 40 others, who swiftly offloaded the explosives and disappeared into the dense jungle.

Security forces have since launched extensive search operations in the region in an effort to track down the perpetrators and recover the stolen cache.