Interceptor missile test in Orissa postponed

BHUBANESWAR - The test of an interceptor missile scheduled Sunday from a military base in Orissa was postponed, official sources said. The 3,000 people, temporarily evacuated from the area, have returned home.

The Advanced Air Defence missile (AAD) was to be fired from the Wheeler Island off Dhamra coast in Bhadrak district to destroy an incoming missile fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district.

Authorities had shifted about 3,000 people from six villages within two-km radius of the test range to temporary camps as a safety measure.

The villagers returned home after the announcement of the postponement of the test, a senior district police official told IANS.