Major Maoist Attack Foiled in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Security personnel on Friday foiled a major attack by suspected Maoists at Topadihi area under Koida police limits in Odisha’s Sundargarh district as they recovered a powerful landmine placed near a railway track.

According to reports, during a joint operation the local police and District Voluntary Force (DVF) personnel seized a landmine weighing more than 10 kg near a railway track at Topadihi Railway Station on Wednesday.

A bomb disposal squad deactivated the landmine in a nearby forest. It is suspected that the Maoist rebels planted the landmine to damage the railway track that could have led to a major train mishap.

Following the incident, the search operation was intensified near the locality.

Based on the intelligence inputs, the railway authorities e alerted the Topadihi Railway Station staff on possible Maoist attacks.

Local Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Swaraj Debata said, “It was an old landmine which was buried and it surfaced after the mud got washed away under the influence of heavy rainfall. The explosive had also degraded and we subsequently defused it.”

Debadata said that the information regarding the recovery of a tiffin-like material was received and a team rushed to the spot and defused it.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawans were deployed on the spot to keep a vigil on suspicious movements near the railway station.

The incident came after Maoist menace in neighbouring Jharkhand where three jawans, including one from Odisha, were martyred in exchange of fires with red rebels last week.