Rourkela: Security forces Saturday claimed to have seized a huge cache of arms from the Luna reserve forest under Mahulapada police limits during a combing operation.
In a press conference held at the Reserve Police Campus here, SP Anirudhh Singh laid out the seized items before mediapersons claiming that the cache of arms was hurriedly left behind by Maoists in the wake of an intense encounter June 20; the arms were seized after police received a tip-off recently.
The claims however were met with scepticism as the seized weapons are outdated and look like they have not been used in the recent past.
The seizure list included a 12 mm bore gun, two country-made guns, 20 bullets of 8mm, 12 cartridges, Maoist literature, 20 kg of explosives, 10 m of cables used in landmine blasts, 68 detonators and two walkie-talkies. Besides, two torch lights, pencil batteries, medicines, blankets, calculators, cooking utensils, newspapers, saline bottles, USB cords and clothes were also seized, the SP claimed.
One of the seized guns was among the tranche of arms looted from the Nayagarh armoury in 2008, he added.
Acting on a tip-off from Mahulapada police regarding Maoist activity in Luna reserve forest, a joint search operation was launched by the police and CRPF jawans, the SP said.
According to police, there was an hour-long exchange of fire between the forces and the ultras inside the forest June 20. The rebels, failing to counter the police, retreated after abandoning the cache of weapons and other items, the SP said.
However, questions were raised over the claims of the police as the seized items appear to have not been used for a long time. The medicines were also past their expiry date. Similarly, the walkie-talkies seized during combing were also found to be defunct.
It is being alleged that police have tried to score brownie points and boost their credentials by displaying previously seized items from their own warehouse.
When confronted with the allegations, SP Singh said the ultras generally bury their materials and added that police had to dig the ground to seize the cache. However, the clarification had few takers among the mediapersons present at the conference. PNN