After an encounter with Maoists in Abujhmad, security forces on Friday said they recovered a large cache of weapons, explosives and long pipes that were allegedly being assembled by a technical team of the Maoists to hit long-range targets.
After receiving information on the presence of a senior Maoist leader, security forces comprising District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel set out on an operation on August 24, officials said.
Superintendent of Police for Narayanpur district, Robinson Guria, said, “An encounter took place between our forces and Maoists, but they escaped. We believe some may have been injured.”
“We seized a light machine gun (LMG), which could have been very dangerous,” Guria said.
An AK-47, an INSAS rifle, a self loading rifle (SLR), a 51mm mortar, a 9mm pistol, a country-made pistol, eight barrel grenade launchers (BGLs), three .303 rifles, four 12-bore rifles, 49 muzzle-loading guns, 10 bullets of .315 bore rifles, 100 BGL shells of different sizes, eight country-made grenades, a hand grenade and ammunition were found.
Moreover, a Trichy Assault Rifle (TAR), an Indian made firearm, was recovered in the Bastar region for the first time.
Two bundles of cordex wire, 141 bundles of safety fuses, GPS devices, detonators, remote switches and explosive material that could have been used to make over 100 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found.
Story continues below this ad
Guria said the weapons were found in different areas and were hidden nearly two feet under the ground. Three pipes, which were five feet long, have been seized. Surrendered Maoists told the police that their technical team were working on assembling long-range launchers to fire BGL shells.
“The Maoists were working on making launchers to hit targets that could be over 300 metres away,” said an official.
In the past, Maoists have made several attempts to attack police camps using BGLs.
