TV
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is set to take over the probe into Tuesday’s high-profile explosives loot case in Sundargarh district, sources stated on Thursday.
An NIA team is reportedly set to visit the spot where suspected Maoists hijacked a truck and made off with a large cache of commercial explosives.
Sources said the central agency decided to step in, given the scale of the operation and its possible links to Naxalism. The area where the incident occurred is under K. Balang police limits and around 90 km from Rourkela and is close to the Saranda forest in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, a region long known as a Maoist stronghold.
A Strategic Concern for National Security
While Odisha Police has already launched combing operations and sealed the border with Jharkhand, the NIA’s involvement indicates that the matter is now being viewed through the lens of national security.
Intelligence officials fear that if the looted explosives, reportedly 150 packets of gelatin sticks, fall into Maoist hands, they could be used to fuel attacks, particularly at a time when the insurgents are in backtrack in neighbouring Jharkhand.
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The Heist: A Calculated Strike
According to preliminary findings, the truck carrying the explosives was en route to a stone quarry in the Banko area when it was intercepted near a forest stretch on Tuesday.
At least eight armed men allegedly stopped the vehicle and drove it about a kilometre into the forest, where they were joined by a larger group of about 40. The packets were then swiftly unloaded and carried off into the dense jungle.
