BHUBNAESWAR: Maoists looted a truck carrying 4,000kg of explosive material from a stone quarry near Saranda forests in Odisha’s Sundargarh district, raising alarm that insurgents may mount IED attacks on forces in a bid to retaliate after a series of setbacks. Around 25-30 armed Maoists stormed the quarry Tuesday evening and hijacked a truck ferrying gelatin sticks, detonators and other material. They offloaded the loot near the Jharkhand border. Agencies fear the loot could be part of a plan to avenge the killing of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju in Chhattisgarh and top leader Tulsi Bhuinya in Jharkhand, hours before the Sundargarh raid.‘Checkpoints on Odisha-J’khand border up, forces on high alert’ NIA launched a probe into the theft, with teams from Odisha, Jharkhand and CRPF jointly tracking leads. “This is a matter of grave concern as these explosives could be potentially used for anti-national activities, particularly against security forces engaged in anti-Maoist operations,” a senior police officer said Thursday.DIG (western range) Brijesh Rai said patrolling has been intensified and additional checkpoints placed along Odisha-Jharkhand border. “NIA is conducting a preliminary inquiry. Forces across both states are on high alert,” he said. Odisha police have said Maoists from Jharkhand are involved in the quarry raid.The Bastar division in Chhattisgarh, already on alert since Basavaraju’s death, has stepped up vigilance. “The quantity of explosives is alarming. We suspect this could be part of a sinister plot to target security forces or infrastructure. Movement of such material usually happens in a scattered manner,” said a Bastar police officer.Northern Chhattisgarh has deployed additional patrol units. In Jan, eight DRG men were killed in Bijapur when Maoists blew up their vehicle using an IED. The latest Maoist action comes amid a lull in rebel activity in Odisha. Sundargarh was declared Maoist-free by the Union home ministry in April 2024, making this renewed aggression a stark reversal.(With inputs from Raipur)