BSF unearthed huge Maoist dump in Odisha, weapons and explosives recovered

 

Acting on a tip-off, a team of Border Security Force (BSF) has unearthed a huge Maoist dump in insurgency-hit Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri in Odisha on Thursday.

 

The development occurred when a BSF team on the basis of solid information launched a search operation in the Balimela reserve forest area, it was learnt that a huge Maoist dump has been recovered between Lariguda and Taimal villages under Chitrakoot police station limits of Malkangiri on Thursday.

 

Briefing the media about the development a BSF press release read that 2 single barrel muzzle loader (SBML) guns, 2 empty shells for the same along with 28 detonators have been seized by the team, the recovery also includes 3 tiffin bombs and 11 hand grenades.

 

It is to be noted that Swabhiman Anchal has been considered as a bastion for proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist) since long where continuous operations from the security forces have forced the outlawed group to retreat from their threshold lately.

 

The growing presence of the forces in the once Maoists stronghold have also instilled a sense of security in the Maoist sympathizers, many of whom have shunned the Maoist ideology and surrendered before the police over the last one year.

 

 

It is worth mentioning that the region witnessed drastic change pertaining to development of basic facilities after inauguration of the Gurupriya bridge in July 2018, the bridge connected more than 20000 people from 151 villages of the Chitrakonda block who were earlier identified as the cut off areas.

 

The inauguration of the bridge led to better connectivity to the region which ultimately paved the way for fulfillment of government schemes pertaining to basic necessities like roads, drinking water and electricity in the region.

The bridge also made a significant difference in terms of combing operations of the security forces in the remotest areas of Malkangiri where uninterrupted movement of the Maoist parties were quite frequent.

 

It should be noted that before the inauguration of the bridge the Swabhiman Anchal region was considered as a bastion for the members of PLGA, (armed wing of the outlawed CPI-Maoist) as its tough terrain and topography had been acting as a natural sheild for the Maoists.

 

The region is surrounded by the Balimela reservoir from three sides and Andhra pradesh on the fourth, which is only connected by the Gurupriya bridge within the Odisha side.