Odisha: Maoist camp busted in Kalahandi, weapons and explosives recovered

The police have busted a Maoist camp after a brief exchange of fire in the Budhanai reserve forest area under Tumudibandha police station limits of Maoist-hit Kalahandi district of Odisha on May 24.

As per the reports after getting a tip-off about the presence of armed cadres of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist), a joint team of personnel from district police and Special Operation Group (SOG) was out on a combing operation in the Tumudibandha area when an exchange of fire broke out between the Ultras and the forces.

It’s been reported that the Maoist opened fire on the combing party to escape from the spot, to which the security forces retaliated heavily. It’s been learnt that the security forces have the upper hand, and the Maoist, who is said to be about 20 in number, fled the spot.

After the gunfight stopped, which lasted about half an hour, the joint team recovered a massive cache of arms and ammunition from the spot. The recovery includes a couple of guns along with a 303 rifle, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), codex wire used to plant the IEDs and other daily use materials.

It’s been learnt that while inspecting the spot, the security team also noticed blood stains suggesting bullet injuries to a few of the Maoist cadres. It’s been reported that reinforcement has been dispatched to the location, and an extensive search operation is being conducted within the vicinity of the encounter site.

It is to be noted that as many as three Maoist cadres were killed in a similar operation by the personnel of the Special Intelligence Wing (SIW) of the Odisha police near Taperenga-Ludengad forest area under the Madanpur Rampur police station limits of Kalahandi districts on May 9.

IED unearthed by security forces in Chhattisgarh

In other news, a joint team of security forces managed to safely unearth and diffuse an IED planted by the Maoist in the Naxal-affected Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on May 24.

It’s been reported that the IED was planted through a foxhole mechanism to cause harm to the combing parties of security forces near the Awapalli-Basaguda road. Let us recall that as many as ten personnel of DRG, along with a civilian driver, was killed in a strong IED explosion planted similarly in the neighbouring Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on April 26.