ROURKELA: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Rourkela police on Sunday claimed to have made a significant breakthrough in the loot of explosives by Maoists by arresting the main conspirator identified as George Munda alias Kullu (43).
Police said Munda of Banko village in K Balang area had set up links with the Maoists for his own personal interest and facilitated the loot of the explosives-laden truck by providing detailed information about the stone quarry near which the crime took place.
DIG (Western Range) Brijesh Kumar Rai said during investigation, the SIT questioned several villagers and the name of Munda emerged as the leading conspirator. Munda was grilled and he confessed to the crime. For his own selfish interest, the accused collaborated with the Maoists and assisted in the crime by providing minute details of the status and operational procedures of the Banko stone quarry.
Police sources said Munda was staying opposite to the stone quarry at Banko village. He was reportedly extracting stones illegally from the quarry prior to its legal allotment to a leaseholder. Later, he started objecting to the operation of the quarry and through some of his acquaintances in Jharkhand, contacted Maoist leader Anmol Hembram alias Samarjee.
In the morning on May 27, the truck carrying around five tonne of blasting explosives was hijacked by 10-15 armed Maoists from near the stone quarry and taken inside Banko forest, just a couple of km from the Saranda forest in adjacent Jharkhand. The Maoists reportedly brought about 30-40 villagers from Jharkhand to carry the explosive packets.
The DIG said after the loot of the explosives, police along with the security forces of West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand launched a joint search operation in the dense Saranda forest. Subsequently, 3,811.30 kg of the looted explosives dumped in the vicinity of the Odisha-Jharkhand border were recovered.
Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said the SIT launched a multi-faceted investigation comprising forensic analysis, telecom data scrutiny and interrogation of multiple stakeholders. The probe established that Munda met with Maoists multiple times and provided vital intelligence to help in the loot of explosives with clinical precision.
He said the accused was produced in court under sections 191 (2), 191 (3), 140 (3), 310 (2), 61 (2) and 190 of BNS, sections 10, 13, 16 (B), 18 and 20 of UAP and section 25 of the Arms Act.
Incidentally, Jharkhand-based assistant sub-inspector of 134 CRPF Battalion Satyavan Kumar Singh (34) was martyred in an IED explosion during a joint anti-Naxal operation in Silkuta forest near Banko on Saturday morning.