Maoist arms dumps unearthed in Odisha

Police today unearthed three arms dumps of Maoists in Khadisaru jungle in Ganjam- Kandhmal districts of Odisha.
"The arms dumps were unearthed during joint search operation by Sorada police, district volunteer force (DVF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the jungle under Ganjam district's Sorada police station area yesterday," DIG of Police (southern range), Amitabh Thakur said.
Items recovered included three SLRs, 793 rounds of ammunition (318 rounds of SLR, 240 rounds of .303 and 206 rounds of 9 mm, 19 rounds of INSAS and ten rounds of .22), 30 magazines (19 INSAS and 9 SLR and two numbers of .303), charge clips (20), battery (2), battery stands (2) and steel container (2) and several pouch and belts, he said.

The arms were dumped by Odisha Maobadi Patry (OMP) which was led by arrested rebel leader Sabyasachi Panda, the DIG said said.
"We suspect these arms were looted from the armoury in Nayagarh district during attack by Maoists in 2008," added SP (Ganjam) Narasingh Bhol.
The arms dumps were unearthed following information given by a rebel who surrendered before police earlier this month, police said.

It was the biggest haul of arms and ammunition from the area after Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda was arrested from here on July 17 last year.
Before the arrest of Sabyasachi, police had unearthed huge stock of arms and ammunition from the jungles in Ganjam and Gajapati districts on March 19 and February 28 last year and arrested three hard-core women Maoists leaders - Nikita, Anita and Sukanti, they said.

"Combing operation will be intensified further in Ganjam-Kandhamal border jungle areas as we suspect some more arm-dumps might be located in the area," the SP said.
Maoists are also believed to be trying to recruit new carders after the arrest or surrender of their top leaders in the area, police said.