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Huge haul of explosives

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Smart work: Explosives seized by the Golanthara police on Thursday night. –

BERHAMPUR: About 110 gelatin detonators along with other explosive materials were seized by police from Govindpur village under Golanthara police station on the outskirts of the city on Thursday night.

According to officer in-charge of Golanthara police station, Jyotiprakash Panda along with gelatin sticks they also seized more than five kilograms of explosive chemical, ammonium nitrate and 200 m of wires used for making explosions. A youth named Bhagaban Sahu, who had stored up these explosive materials for illegal trading, was arrested. He is being interrogated.

The recent seizure has again brought in the suspicion that the suburb of the city is being used as transit zone for explosive materials. Earlier, around 400 gelatin sticks along with large amount of Urea had been seized from an autorickshaw at Pokudibandha on the outskirts of the city while it was being transported on February 23. Gelatin and urea or Ammonium nitrate are basic ingredients of the landmines made by naxals.

On May 26 the police raided a poultry farm at Kukudakhandi around 12 km from the city to unearth gelatin sticks, 180 kgs of ammonium nitrate and other equipments used for detonation. Over 20,000 liters of highly explosive naphtha illegally brought into the district had been seized near tanganapalli on the outskirts of the city on May 9.

Due to presence of stone quarries in parts of Ganjam district, presence of gelatin sticks and other explosive materials was always there in the district. But illegal storage and transportation of explosive materials on the outskirts of the city is a cause of worry. Berhampur is also suspected to be a key point of naxals active in south Orissa due to its direct road transportation links with naxal-infested districts like Gajapati, Malkangiri and Rayagada. Several naxals and naxal supporters arrested from parts of south Orissa are also lodged at Berhampur circle jail.

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