Cops on toes after recent pre-poll violence

BERHAMPUR: The recent seizure of four bombs from a Congress leader in Sorada, Friday's bomb attack at Bilipada village and recovery of explosives in Jilundi near Bhanjanagar and Chhatrapur have sent alarm bells ringing for police with twin elections on April 10 in the politically-sensitive Ganjam district. Police have ruled out that the bomb attack was linked to politics.
Earlier, police arrested Sorada block Congress president Kabiraj Swain and his associate Chandra Sekhar Gouda after four bombs were recovered from his motorcycle basket on Thursday. The explosives were seized an hour after chief minister Naveen Patnaik's meeting in Sorada.
Police said the firearms were meant to terrorize people during the election. The flying squad for election monitoring seized 43 detonators and fuse wires from a person at Chhatrapur on Friday. He was identified as Sudam Nayak of Sundarapur, police said.
Police also seized explosives from a house in Jilundi and Chhatrapur. Around 350 kg of explosives, 7,100 detonators, 45 metres of safety fuse wires and two dynamos were seized from the house of Deba Pradhan during the raids recently. Pradhan was not in the house during the raids, said IIC of Bhanjanagar A K Sahu.
Police have intensified patrolling and conducting flag marches in sensitive areas.