Published on: August 19, 2025 03:00 AM IST
Police said that in the last few months, 70 Maoists have been seen around Kandhamal, Buddhist, Kalahandi and Burgahar districts along with some members of the Central Committee.
The Odisha police said on Monday that they had seized about 9 tonnes of explosives, including 4,000 detonators from the forests of Gelatin Stick and Kandhamal district, known as Maoist Hotbed.
“Our personnel have seized about 9 tonnes of explosives and 4,000 detonators of the Tumudibanda region in Kandmal. We have detained two persons for questioning in this regard. Security personnel had earlier found 600 detonators from a Maoist dump in Kandmal last month.
Police said 70 Maoists have been seen around Kandhamal, Buddhist, Kalahndi and Burgahar districts along with some members of the Central Committee in the last few months. In the Kandmal region alone, about 20 Maoists are active.
The ADG said that the police suspect that explosives and detonators were being illegally supplied to Maoists for mining activities. “We have initiated an investigation to detect the source and destination of seized explosives,” he said.
Panda said, “The explosives were illegally stored in the Tumudibandha region. Our officials are looking at all these issues,” said Panda.
Security personnel found similar explosives from a Maoist dump in Gumma Reserve One in Kadhamal about a month ago.
The Maoists of neighboring Jharkhand had stolen huge amounts of explosives a few months before a stone mine in Sundargarh district, out of which only 80 % of which could be recovered only 80 % from Sarda Forest during operation.
