Massive manhunt on to apprehend around 40 Maoists holed up in Odisha forest
Jawans are taking utmost caution during the combing operation, apprehending that the ultras might have planted land mines.
Bhubaneswar: A massive manhunt was on to arrest around 40 Maoists holed up in a dense forest in Odisha’s Boudh district, nearly 250 km from here.
According to reports, the jawans of Special Operation Group (SOG) of Odisha police and District Voluntary Force (DVF) of Boudh were carrying out combing operations in Nalikumbha forest under Manmunda police limits in the Boudh.
The search operation, which was launched on Thursday, will continue till the Red radicals surrender before the police, informed Boudh superintendent of police (SP) Raj Prasad.
On Friday, a large number of explosives and other Maoist materials were found during the search operation in Nalikumbha forest.
As per reports, the security forces recovered improvised explosive devices (IEDs), a rocket launcher, a tiffin bomb, battery, medicines, Maoists uniforms and food from the hideouts of the Red rebels in the jungle.
The security forces had defused three IEDs planted by the Maoists targeting them during the combing operations.
According to the state police, the jawans are taking utmost caution during the combing operation as it is apprehended that the ultras might have planted landmines in the jungle. Three bomb squads have also been roped in for the operation.
On Thursday, two members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) surrendered before Kandhamal police. They were identified as Ranjit Naitam and Unga Poyam. They hail from neighbouring Chhattisgarh. The two had been associated with the Kandhamal-Kalahandi-Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) division of the Odisha State Committee of the CPI (Maoist) since 2017 and were involved in several violent activities.
Sources said, as many as 12 companies of SOG jawans are now engaged in combing operations in Nalikumbha jungle.
According to sources, the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) elements, after losing their long-held bastions in Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Nuapara and Koraput districts in southern parts of the state, are now trying to consolidate their position in Kandhamal and Boudh districts in Central Odisha.