Raipur, Chhattisgarh | October 4, 2026
Forest authorities have uncovered a disturbing method of wildlife poaching in and around Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, where crude explosive devices known as potash bombs are allegedly being used to kill wild animals.
In the latest operation, the reserve’s anti-poaching team arrested two men from Odisha and recovered 13 live potash bombs, along with weapons and other hunting implements. Two other suspects escaped and are being traced.
Wild Boar Allegedly Killed With Explosive
The operation took place on September 29 in the Chikhlapani area of the Risgaon range, close to the Chhattisgarh–Odisha border.
According to The Times of India, forest personnel encountered the suspects while they were allegedly cutting up the carcass of a wild boar killed using an explosive device.
The two arrested men were identified as Narsingh and Mansingh, residents of Khiloli village in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district.
They were produced before a JMFC court at Nagri on October 1 and remanded to judicial custody. A case has been registered under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
13 Live Bombs Recovered
The seizure made during the operation was particularly worrying.
Forest officials recovered 13 live potash bombs, besides a tangia, knife, sickle, katta and other implements allegedly associated with hunting.
A subsequent search linked to the investigation reportedly produced 29 cartridges, explosive or firecracker-type articles, explosive crackers and packets containing suspected explosive material. Investigators are now examining whether these seizures point towards a wider procurement and supply network.
A third man, identified as Bharat Rathore of Kohrabeda in Kondagaon district, is suspected of supplying explosive material. He has been served a legal notice, according to the report.
Not an Isolated Case
What makes the seizure particularly concerning is evidence that the practice may extend beyond a handful of individuals.
Field intelligence cited by The Times of India suggests that more than 20 people have previously been caught or detained for alleged involvement in using or manufacturing explosives for wildlife hunting in and around the reserve.
In another investigation involving a suspect from Nagri in Dhamtari, authorities reportedly recovered suspected explosive material together with 86 sloth-bear claws.
Such discoveries have raised fears that crude explosive hunting could be connected with organised wildlife crime rather than merely occasional subsistence hunting.
A Weapon That Does Not Choose Its Victim
The danger posed by these devices goes far beyond the animal deliberately targeted by a poacher.
Improvised explosive devices placed for wildlife can potentially injure or kill non-target wild animals, livestock or even forest and police personnel operating in the area.
For a protected landscape such as Udanti-Sitanadi, that makes their use especially alarming.
A device intended for a wild boar, for example, cannot distinguish between its intended target and another animal that encounters it.
Border Belt Identified as a Hotspot
Authorities have identified the Keshkal–Kanker–Nabarangpur–Nagri belt as an area of particular concern.
The landscape crosses administrative and state boundaries, making intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement especially important.
The September 29 operation itself involved field intelligence from the tiger reserve’s anti-poaching network and cyber support from Gariyaband Police.
Repeated poaching activity can have consequences beyond the animals actually killed. Forest officials have warned that disturbance and injuries caused by such activities could drive frightened wildlife towards farms and villages, potentially worsening human-wildlife conflict.
Stronger Action Against Explosives
Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve authorities have now decided that cases involving illegal explosives will not be pursued solely as wildlife offences.
Where evidence permits, authorities intend to initiate parallel proceedings under the Explosive Substances Act, in addition to action under wildlife protection laws.
That approach could become important if investigators establish an organised network involved in manufacturing, supplying or distributing explosive material for hunting.
A New Challenge for Udanti-Sitanadi
The latest seizure is therefore more than the arrest of two alleged poachers.
It points towards a potentially dangerous change in the methods being employed against wildlife.
Traditional anti-poaching efforts generally focus on snares, traps, firearms and other conventional hunting methods. The emergence of crude explosive devices introduces an additional threat that is indiscriminate, difficult to detect and potentially dangerous even to those protecting the forest.
For Udanti-Sitanadi, the discovery underlines the need for stronger intelligence gathering, surveillance of vulnerable border areas and cooperation between the forest departments and police of Chhattisgarh and neighbouring Odisha.
The seizure of 13 live devices may have prevented further wildlife deaths. But the larger challenge is now to establish who is making and supplying these explosives—and how widespread their use in wildlife hunting has become.
Source: The Times of India, October 3, 2026.
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