Security forces yesterday busted a Maoist ammunition dump located in the forest in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh and recovered a cache of material used for manufacturing and repairing firearms, the police said today.
The seizure comprised a lathe cutting machine, a drill machine, butts of SLR rifles, SLR trigger guards, a charger, a vernier calliper, some iron-made weapons, naxal literature and camping materials, a police official said.
"The recovery was made last evening from Ghodapath Hill under Gatapar police station limits by a joint team of security forces," Rajanandgaon Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal told PTI.
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He said a joint squad of the District Force, Special Task Force (STF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh) Police had launched the search operation from Malaida police base camp in Gatapar on a specific input when they spotted the arms dump on the hill.
The officer said the ultras were using the seized material in making and repairing firearms.
Security forces have intensified their operations since the last few months on inputs that Maoists have been trying to expand their base in the tri-junction forests in Rajnandgaon (Chhattisagrh), Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh) and Gondia (Maharashtra).
On October 17, a base camp was set up in Malaida on Chhattisgarh-MP border where a joint team of the ITBP, STF, Rajnandgaon police and the Hawk Force from Balaghat has been stationed, the SP said.
Besides carrying out extensive search operations in the region, the forces have also been holding meetings with villagers on both sides of the border and asking them to refrain from extending any kind of assistance to naxals, he added.
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