Security forces unearthed a Maoist arms dump in Nuapada district during a joint anti-Naxal operation in Patahara Reserve Forest near the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, personnel from the District Voluntary Force (DVF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a search in the forested terrain of Barpat Donger under Boden police station limits.
Superintendent of Police Amritpal Singh supervised the operation. Security teams detected a concealed Maoist cache deep inside the reserve forest. Investigators confirmed the recovery of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and improvised explosive device (IED)-making materials.
The seized items included two country-made guns, a carbine with a magazine, 29 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 54 rounds of SLR ammunition, two tiffin IEDs, eight gelatin sticks, 1.5 kg of gunpowder, one detonator, batteries, a multimeter, a solar panel, electrical wires, codex wire, a wire cutter, testing equipment, Maoist uniforms, haversacks, shoes, Maoist literature, cooking utensils, and a medicine kit.
Police said the cache belonged to cadres of the banned CPI (Maoist) and was part of an old dump. Following the recovery, combing operations intensified in the forest area to detect additional hidden dumps. Security forces also stepped up surveillance along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border to prevent Maoist regrouping.
