Bhubaneswar: Security personnel on Saturday averted a major tragedy after they recovered a ten-kg landmine allegedly planted by Maoists on a road in Orissa's communally sensitive Kandhamal district, police said.
The land mine, kept inside a container, was found on a prominent road near Godibali village under Daringbadi police station, Deputy Superintendent of Police G.C. Behera told IANS.
It was the same area where police had earlier Oct 19 found landmines totally weighing nearly 100 kg, he said.
Maoist presence in the district, about 200 km from Bhubaneswar, came to the fore when they shot dead Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides in his ashram at Jaleshpeta Aug 23, 2008.
The region witnessed communal violence after local mobs blamed Christians for the killing and attacked their houses. At least 38 people were killed in the riots that lasted for more than a month.
IANS
First Published: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 00:01