The security personnel, while conducting Operation Mangal-2 on Thursday evening, successfully unearthed a 30-kg cane bomb kept underground by Maoists near Kulibad village in the Saranda jungle area.
Sources said an intelligence report informed the law enforcement agencies that some Maoists led by Chotanagpur Zonal chief Anmol Hembram alias Samarjee were camping in Saranda jungle to mobilize supporters for them from the nearby villages. At that time, operation Mangal-2 was being conducted in the jungle jointly by Odisha Police, Jharkhand Police and the 197 Battalion of CRPF.
Though, the Jharkhand State intelligence report hinted about the movement of hardcore Maoists like B Nirvay Singh, Sandip and Talkot in Saranda and nearby Poda jungle, the security personnel have not been able to locate any one of them.
The recovery of the huge bomb hints that the Maoists were planning for devastation, said CRPF 197 Battalion Assistant Commandant Goutam Chandra Ray.