BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police launched an extensive operation against Left Wing Extremism in Swabhiman Anchal in Malkangiri district in order to provide a security cover for road construction activities that are often hampered due to protests by Maoists.
Speaking about the operation conducted last month, DG of Police Abhay said the operation, one of the biggest in the recent past, led to uncovering of major Maoist hideouts and dumps in Swabhiman Anchal and adjoining areas. A huge cache of arms, ammunition, equipment and other articles were seized during the operation, he said on Friday.
Teams of Odisha Police, BSF, CoBRA and Andhra Police participated in the counter LWE operation in the area. Immediately after this operation, there was an exchange of fire between the police and Maoists at Goiguda village in Malkangiri district on January 15, he informed.
As the exchange of fire ceased, specific information was recovered from the Maoist documents and electronic devices seized during the operation. Special Operation Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force ( DVF) teams of Odisha Police then launched vigorous search and area domination exercises.
The security forces recovered one INSAS light machine gun, three INSAS rifles, three carbine sten guns, one self-loading rifle (SLR), one .303 rifle, one pistol, 202 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, 59 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and 42 rounds of 9 mm ammunition.
They also recovered eight INSAS magazines, four light machine gun (LMG) magazines, two SLR magazines, six carbine magazines, one .303 magazine, two VHF sets-cum-scanners, one optical sight, one tiffin bomb along with explosives, and other articles from the spot.
We suspect the cache of arms and ammunition were hidden by the Maoists of Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee and looted from the police in the past, however, this is under verification, the DGP said.
This is a major jolt to the subversive and anti-national designs of the Maoists in this area. Police have intensified combing and area domination exercises in the region to uncover more such Naxal hideouts, if any, he added.