A secret Maoist camp operating in the jungle under the Raighar police station limits — near Chhattisgarh border — in Nabarangpur district of south Odisha was busted by security forces following an exchange of fire on Saturday night.
Large quantity of arms and ammunitions, explosive materials and goods were seized from the spot. But no casualty or injury has been reported, police sources said.
According to Inspector General (IG) of police, south-west range of Odisha, Yashwant Jethwa, the seized items included eight landmines, three SBML guns, one 8MM pistol, 70 detonators, seven bundles of wire used to explode Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), five kg of gun powder, Maoist uniforms and literature. It is suspected that these Maoists — who operate in Chhattisgarh and Odisha — were camping there with an intention to carry out violent activities during the election process.
There were intelligence reports that a group of 50 Maoist of Manipur division and Nuapada division of outlawed CPI (Maoist) organisation, who are active in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, were camping in the jungle under Raighar police station limits. Based on the information, a joint operation was started by personnel of Border Security Force (BSF), District Voluntary Force (DVF) and Special Operation Group (SOG) of Nabarangpur district to track down the camp.
The joint operation continued for two days which ended on Saturday night, said Mr. Jethwa. When the security personnel reached near the Naxalite camp, the ultras opened fire at them, which was retaliated. As the Maoist could not match the fire power of the security forces, they preferred to escape from the spot. Search operation is on to track down the escaped ultras. At present areas of south Odisha bordering Maoist infested areas of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh are also under strict vigil.
