Odisha Police seizes huge quantity of explosive materials

Odisha Police seized a huge quantity of explosive materials from Mukundapur village in Jajpur district on Sunday. An investigation is on to find out the source of the material.

Jajpur (Odisha): Odisha Police on Sunday seized a huge quantity of explosive materials from Mukundapur village in Jajpur district during a raid, an officer said.

The explosive materials were illegally stored in a house owned by Susanta Kumar Behera of the village, the officer said, adding that the house owner has been arrested.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team led by the inspector- in-charge of Jenapur police station, Asish Kumar Sahu raided the house of Susanta Kumar Behera in Mukundapur village and seized 10 quintals of ammonium nitrate and 12.5 quintals of ideal powder gel on Sunday afternoon.

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"We seized 20 bags of ammonium nitrate, each bag containing 50 kg and 50 cartoons of ideal power gel, each cartoon containing 25 kg from the house of Behera during the raid. The huge cache of explosive materials was illegally stored at his house," Sahu said.

According to police sources, Behera does not have a valid license to store the explosive materials or market them. A case was registered against Behera under relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act and the IPC.

A preliminary investigation indicated that he was probably providing explosives to local mafia for use in illegal mining activity in Jenapur and Dharmasala areas in Jajpur district.

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An investigation is on to find out the source of the material, police said.

PTI