Bhubaneswar: In a significant breakthrough, security forces have recovered 700 kilograms of explosive materials from the Saranda forest near the Odisha-Jharkhand border.
The recovery was made during an intensive combing operation on Wednesday by a joint team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Operations Group (SOG), and the elite COBRA unit.
Acting on intelligence inputs, the forces conducted a coordinated sweep of the dense forest region, which led to the seizure of a huge amount of explosives.
It is pertinent to mention that this recovery comes days after Maoists looted a large cache of explosives in Sundargarh district. Notably, the security forces had earlier recovered 2.5 tonnes of explosives in the same forest, which were part of the looted cache.
The Maoists had intercepted an explosive-laden truck on May 27 and diverted it into the Saranda forest. The ongoing operation aims to crack down on Maoist-linked activities in the region.