Two powerful land mines were recovered on a road in Odisha's Koraput district after which security personnel began sanitising the entire stretch of Koraput-Laxmipur road.
The land mines, weighing around 25 kg each, were spotted during a road-widening work on state highway 4 near Laxmipur on Monday evening, police said. "After that we sanitised vulnerable points, including culverts, on Koraput-Laxmipur road but no explosive was found. However, we will continue our road sanitisation work for the next few days," Koraput Superintendent of Police Awinash Kumar said.
After the road construction machine hit the land mines, the panicked labourers informed police. With help from the BSF, police recovered the explosives kept in two separate steel containers.
"The Maoists had planted the land mines three to four years back and left them unused. Wires were not fitted to the land mines and we recovered them safely. As possibility of more land mines can't be ruled out in the area, we are sanitising the entire stretch of 60 km," the SP said.
"However, there is no need for panic as movement of Maoists on the route has been contained to a great extent," he added. Sources said Maoists plant powerful land mines on State Highways and National Highways, targeting security personnel engaged in anti-extremist exercises in the area.
Earlier on August 27, at least four BSF personnel were killed in a landmine blast triggered by the the red rebels near Ralegada on NH-26 in the district.
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