Odisha: Land mine recovered near tracks in Sundargarh; cops intensify search operations

A major Naxal attack was foiled by the Odisha Police after they recovered a landmine near the railway tracks in the Sundargarh district of the state.

Rourkela (Odisha): A land mine, weighing around 10 kg, was recovered from the forest near the Topadihi railway station in Odisha's Sundargarh district, police said on Friday.

According to police, the Naxals had planned a major attack at Topadihi under the jurisdiction of the Balang police station. Police officials said that police personnel and DVF jawans detonated the land mine during a joint search operation.

"The bomb disposal team arrived to defuse the land mine seized in the nearby forest. However, the land mine, which was recovered was already deactivated," officials added.

Police said that they have intensified search and combing operations in the area after the recovery of a land mine. Police sources said that Naxal leader Misri Besra Kohlan has started efforts to assert his presence on the Odisha side after Saranda.

SDPO Swaraj Debata said, “It was an old land mine, which was buried and it surfaced after the mud got washed away under the influence of heavy rainfall.'

Three jawans were killed in firing by Naxalites in the last week. Odisha jawan Sushant Kumar Khuntia was among the martyrs. The other two martyred jawans hail from Bihar and Jharkhand respectively. Police had also seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition in Jharkhand. The Jawans had destroyed over 11 Naxal bunkers. Police further said that efforts are on to apprehend Misri Besra.