Detonators-laden van missing in Maoist area

Raipur, July 5 : A private van loaded with detonators went missing in Chhattisgarh's restive Maoist stronghold of Bastar region Sunday, police said.

Officials at the police headquarters here said a massive search operation was launched to trace the vehicle, which was reported missing somewhere in the forested area of Bastar district.

'Two vans with about 26,000 detonators were going from state capital Raipur to Kirandul town in Dantewada district's iron ore rich Bailadila area when one of them went missing somewhere in Bastar district. A search drive has been launched to locate the vehicle,' a police official said.

The explosives were meant for a mining firm to blast rocks at Bailadila hills for iron ore excavation.