Dhenkanal: Explosives are being smuggled with impunity to various parts of the state and outside from a manufacturing unit near Ostapal forest under Hindol sub-division in this district, a report said.
The matter came to fore after Bolangir police busted an explosives smuggling racket whose network extends from Dhenkanal to Bolangir. Police arrested four persons including two drivers and seized a huge cache of explosives Sunday.
Among the arrested persons, two were traders from Rajasthan. After making the arrests, Bolangir police visited the manufacturing unit in Ostapal for probe with the help of Balimi police.
However, the mastermind of the racket, who is also the head of the manufacturing unit, fled with all his employees by locking the factory before the police could arrive. It is suspected that he might have fled to Rajasthan while the police have sealed the unit.
It is alleged the illegal trade has been running in this district under the nose of Hindol and Balimi police.
According to sources, four to five such illegal units are in operation in forested parts of the district. However, the police and the district administration are accused of not conducting regular inspection of the units.
Explosives manufactured in the Ostapal unit are being smuggled to various illegal stone quarries in and outside the district, the sources said.
The illegal stone quarries are spread over in areas under Nihalprasad police station, Sadar police station, Bhapur police outpost and Motanga police station, the sources added.
In these quarries, over 20,000 detonators and dynamites are used daily to extract stones. The frequent use of explosives has damaged houses near the quarries with residents living in an atmosphere of perpetual fear apprehending backlash from the stone mafia.
The affected residents of Nihalprasad and Bhapur police station areas have many a times approached the administration for justice, but to no avail.
This has happened because the tehsildars, who visit the quarries for probe, often file reports favouring the owners. The silence of the administration has emboldened the quarry owners.
Two months ago, the police had arrested three persons, seized three bikes and a huge cache of explosives in separate incidents under Nihalprasad police limits. Similarly, police arrested two persons and seized 20 packets of explosives while being smuggled in a van in Babandh under Rasol police limits September 24.
SP Basant Kumar Panigrahi said the proprietor of the unit at Ostapal has been asked to appear before the police. PNN