Sundargarh: The security dragnet has significantly tightened in western Odisha as Director General of Police (DGP) Y B Khurania and Inspector General of Police (Operations) Deepak Kumar have personally arrived and are camping in the K Balang area of Sundargarh district.
Their presence underscores the gravity of the situation following the audacious theft of approximately four tonnes of industrial explosives on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
Odisha police have now confirmed that Maoists from neighboring Jharkhand were responsible for hijacking the explosives-laden truck from a stone quarry in the K Balang area.
This incident marks a significant Maoist operation after a prolonged period of reduced Left Wing Extremist (LWE) activity in Odisha, triggering apprehension of a disruption to the Centre’s objective of establishing a ‘Maoist-free’ India by March 2026.
DGP Shri Khurania, along with IG (operations) Dr. Kumar and Special Intelligence Wing (SIW) DIG Kanwar Vishal Singh, visited Rourkela on Wednesday to review the ongoing investigation. They subsequently moved to the K Balang area to oversee the intensified combing operations.
The stolen explosives, comprising gelatin sticks, are feared to be used against security personnel. The truck, which was en route from a mining site near Banko to Badagaon, was intercepted by an armed group of 25 to 30 individuals.
The truck driver, Debnath Toppo, who was later released, stated that the masked assailants spoke in Hindi and identified themselves as Maoists.
While the hijacked truck was later found abandoned in a jungle area near the Saranda forest bordering Jharkhand, there has been no trace of the stolen explosives. Police have sealed an explosive storage facility at Itma under Bargaon police limits, which supplied the gelatin sticks to the Banko quarry.
Joint anti-Maoist search operations are underway with the help of the neighboring Jharkhand police and CRPF, focusing on the dense forest stretches of Sundargarh and the interstate boundary. The incident has raised concerns, especially as Sundargarh had been declared Naxal-free in April 2024.
Security analysts have criticized the SIW’s performance, suggesting they should have maintained vigilance despite the district’s removal from the LWE affected areas list.