Odisha and Jharkhand police, along with the CRPF, on Friday recovered three tonnes of the explosives looted by Maoists after a 24-hour-long search operation.

The explosives looted from a truck were recovered on Friday from a location in the Saranda forest in Jharkhand, about 10km from the Odisha border.

“The security forces have recovered over 70 per cent of the stolen explosives during a combing operation in Saranda forest,” said deputy inspector-general of police (Western Range) Brijesh Kumar Rai.

The rebels on Tuesday had snatched the consignment that was on its way to a stone quarry at Banko in Sundergarh district, close to Jharkhand border.

Apprehending that the Maoists could use the looted explosives against them, security forces had launched an operation for the recovery of the consignment. When the forces launched the combing operation from Odisha, the Maoists had sneaked into the Jharkhand border. Jawans from the Jharkhand side also launched an offensive against the rebels at the same time.

Caught between this two-pronged attack at Tirilposh, located close to Saranda forest in the Pashchimi Singhbum district in Jharkhand, the Maoists started firing. The security forces retaliated. One jawan has been injured. The rebels later fled from the spot.

The security forces have so far recovered three tonnes of the looted explosives. The Maoists divided themselves into several groups to carry the four tonnes of explosives, weighing about 4,000kg. After the truck driver, Debnath Toppo, reported the loot to the police, the combing operation was launched.

Director-general of police Y.B. Khurania coordinated the entire operation from Rourkela.