Raipur: In a significant anti-Maoist success, a joint team of Narayanpur Police and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) recovered a cache of materials used by Naxalites for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during a search operation in the dense forests of Narayanpur district in Chhattisgarh on Monday (February 2).
The recovered items were carefully seized, documented in a formal seizure memo, and safely transported to Orchha police station for further examination and evidence processing.
A case has been registered, and legal proceedings have been initiated against the involved Naxal elements.
The recovery, based on credible secret information, targeted hidden dumps in the Kangali-Mandoli-Asnar-Orchha forest area under Orchha police station limits, part of the notorious Abujhmad region long considered a Maoist stronghold, a police statement said on Wednesday.
Acting swiftly on intelligence inputs received on February 2, the combined force launched an intensive combing mission in the forested stretch. During the operation, security personnel unearthed various items concealed by Maoists, including pressure cookers, ropes, electrical wires, chargers, batteries, pencil cells, pipes, engine oil, and other everyday materials commonly repurposed for assembling IEDs.
These components are frequently employed by Maoists to target security forces through pressure-activated or command-detonated explosives.
Recent joint efforts in Abujhmad have repeatedly disrupted Maoist logistics, with similar recoveries of explosives, detonators, and pressure cooker-based IEDs in the area, often neutralised on-site by bomb disposal squads to avert potential attacks.
Narayanpur, nestled in the Bastar division, remains a focal point for anti-Naxal operations due to its rugged terrain and persistent Maoist presence.
Earlier in January, a joint team of security forces uncovered and neutralised a significant Maoist explosives dump hidden in the forested hills near Kursingbahar village under Barsur police station in Dantewada district.
According to senior police officials, the seized cache included a 174-kilogram barrel-type Improvised Explosive Device, one Barrel Grenade Launcher, five bundles of cordex wire each six meters long, six electric detonators, eight gelatin sticks, one bundle of electric wire, one bundle of safety fuse, along with medicines, daily essentials, and Maoist literature.
The explosives, valued at approximately 11 lakh rupees, were concealed in a strategic location to support ambushes or sabotage.
(IANS)
