Bhubaneswar, May 29: A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday launched an investigation into the looting of explosives weighing around four tonnes by the Maoists near the Odisha-Jharkhand border in Sundargarh district on Tuesday, a senior police officer said.

The senior police official also said that the NIA team is examining the case to determine whether they should take over the investigation or not.

He told the media that the involvement of the Maoists from neighbouring Jharkhand in the looting incident can’t be ruled out.

“As per the information shared by the driver, the persons involved in the incident had told him in Odia language during the looting that they were Maoists. Based on this, an FIR has been lodged and investigation is going on that angle,” said Brijesh Rai, DIG of Odisha Police (Western Range).

Rai also told the media persons that after the incident came to fore, DGP Y.B. Khurania along with other senior officials of state police reached K Balanga police station on Wednesday and took stock of the whole situation.

The DGP instructed the officials to beef up security at all the vulnerable places in the area.

Khurania has also directed strict adherence to the existing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) or guidelines regarding security measures for agencies engaged in trade of explosives. He also ordered a security audit of all such centers.

It is pertinent here to mention that when a vehicle carrying around 200 packets, each containing 25 kg of explosives, from a private godown in the Badagaon area, reached a mining site at Banko under K Balanga police station area on Tuesday, some 30 to 40 unidentified gunmen suddenly appeared there and asked the staff at the mining site and the driver to reload the explosives into the vehicle.

They later took away the packets containing explosives leaving the vehicle and the driver in a jungle a few kilometres away.

As per reports, the Maoists had similarly hijacked an explosive-laden vehicle from Champajharan area of Rourkela in Sundargarh district few years back.

--IANS

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