Busting of a camp of Odisha Maovadi Party (OMP) and arrest of three of its key female cadres in Mohana police station area of Gajapati district on Thursday night revealed that the OMP leader, Sabysachi Panda had been injured in police firing on February 15 in adjoining Ganjam district.
Speaking to The Hindu , Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of police, Amitabh Thakur, said based on the information gathered from the arrested Maoists, a huge haul of arms and ammunition, materials of OMP camp as well as Rs. 10,50,000 in cash was seized.
The three arrested female Maoists also had rewards declared for their capture. One among them named Nikita alias Minita Majhi (30) had three lakh rupees reward on her head. While the other two, Anita alias Dandingi Majhi (28) and Susanti alias Sukanti Majhi (20) had reward of Rs. 50,000 rupees each for their capture.
The seized goods included one AK47 rifle, four SLR rifles, two INSAS rifles, one 9mm pistol, 354 rounds of live ammunition, including those of AK47, one IED in the form of a tiffin box, a generator fixed with silencer, computer peripherals and Maoist uniforms.
It may be noted that a massive operation is on since February 15 to track down Sabysachi and other members of the OMP. On that day security forces were involved in exchange of fire with Sabyasachi’s group when they busted the camp of OMP inside Merikote reserve forest near Salimagochha in Ganjam district.
Sabyasachi had managed to escape from the camp. It was suspected that he had been injured in police firing. It has now been confirmed from the interrogation of three arrested female Maoists. According to them, Sabyasachi had received a bullet on his right thigh and was trying to dodge the police along with two to three associates.
At present, security forces are continuing operation in the forest area at the joint point of Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal districts to nab Sabyasachi.
