Powerful landmine recovered in Kalimela

A joint anti-Naxal combing party comprising BSF, local police and Special Operations Group (SOG) stumbled upon the landmine weiging about two kilogrammes and over 100 metres of fuse wire during a search operation in Badigota forests in Kalimela area, police said.

The security personnel were walking through the dense forests to dodge any attack when the police radar signalled some hidden object under the ground on the canal road near Badighata, sources said.

Experts in the team carefully dug up the ground and spotted the explosive device with its wires leading to some distance inside the deep forests. The device was defused, the sources said.

Police suspect it was planted by Maoists to target security personnel and sabaotage the panchayat elections in the area as they were aware of the combing operation going on in the area ahead of the polls.

Police had arrested one person and found a gun-making factory along with guns and other materials at Nilapari besides, a huge cache of arms and ammunition during a raid on Maoist camps at Sisaput, Khalaguda and Patraput recently. Combing operation in the area had been intensified following the incident, the sources said.