Jamshedpur, May 2: CRPF personnel recovered a 35 kg landmine near Karampada, about 2 km from Topadihi in Sundergarh district of CKP Railway Division on the first day of the two-day shut down called by CPI (Maoists) on Monday.
The landmine was recovered just seven meters away from railway track.
With this timely recovery of the explosive from railway track on Odisha-Jharkhand border area, Kiriburu police and CRPF have managed to avoid a major rail mishap. The exact location from where the explosive device was recovered is between Ramda in Odisha and Karampada in Jharkhand range.
According to the sources, a goods train driver identified the bomb and immediately informed the Government Railway Police (GRP).
The police rushed to the spot immediately. Later, the bomb was diffused by a special bomb disposal squad of the CRPF.
The IED, put in a steel container and placed near the railway track on the busy Howrah-Mumbai route, was recovered following information received by RPF here, said DSP, RPF, Alok Jena.
Jena said security forces were immediately sent to the site and train services were cancelled on that route for about seven hours. “As that is an exclusive goods track, no passenger train services were affected. Goods movement resumed after midday,” said the DSP.
The IED, which was inside a steel container, was kept inside a sack. This was kept close to the track with wires attached to it. Locals found the device lying in the open and they gave the message to us, said Jena.
Talking to the media, IIC of Bonai police station, Sishu Ranjan Mahapatra, said the tiffin bomb recovered by CRPF personnel and Kiriburu police weighed around 35 kg.
�Since the area from where the tiffin bomb has been found belongs to Jharkhand, local police and CRPF personnel are conducting a search operation to trace out any explosion that may have been planted on the rail tracks by the Maoist. As a precautionary measure, we have kept a strict vigil on the movement of the left wing ultras in our area,� he added.
Talking to the media, SDPO, Bonai, Sishu Ranjan Mahapatra said the tiffin bomb weighed around 35 kg. Local police and CRPF personnel are conducting search operation in all nearby rail tracks and other areas.
The banned group CPI-Maoists called for a two-day shutdown from Monday to protest against the water crisis, accusing the government of failing to address the water woes of the people.
On the other hand, normal life was hit in rural areas of Jharkhand on Monday, but there was no effect in the urban parts.
Long route buses did not operate across the state, as passengers faced a harrowing time under the scorching sun waiting for buses. Coal transportation was also affected.
According to sources in the Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), coal transportation was affected by about 20 percent due to the shutdown.
Railway officials said they were taking precautionary measures in Maoist-affected areas.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed as Maoist guerrillas blast railway tracks at night. Extra vigil is being kept,” an official of Hatia railway division said. Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state.