Koraput: Odisha Police Friday unearthed a Maoist arms and explosives dump during a search operation in the dense forests of Koraput district, dealing another blow to Naxal activities in the region, officials said.
The dump was detected at Tentuliguma within Boipariguda police station limits of the district.
Officials said the District Voluntary Force (DVF) launched the operation around 6 am based on intelligence gathered during the interrogation of surrendered Maoists.
The dump was located in a forested area along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border adjoining Darbha police station limits in Bastar district.
Police recovered one country-made revolver, six country-made guns, 11 tiffin bomb improvised explosive devices (IEDs) of varying capacities, 25 detonators, 20 metres of cordex wire, six rounds of .38 calibre ammunition, two camera flashlights and gunpowder.
Koraput SP Rohit Verma said the recovered arms and explosives were suspected to belong to cadres of the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of the CPI (Maoist).
The operation was launched based on credible information obtained during the interrogation of surrendered Maoists. The recovery of such a large quantity of arms and explosives has prevented these materials from being used against civilians and security forces, Verma said.
He said the recovery reflected the sustained efforts of the district police and security forces to eliminate the remnants of Maoist infrastructure in the region.
This is the second major Maoist dump recovered in the district within the last fortnight. Regular combing and search operations by the DVF, Special Operations Group (SOG) and Border Security Force (BSF) will continue to detect and destroy such arms dumps and prevent any attempt to revive extremist activities, the SP added.