Naxal unit manufacturing arms destroyed in Sukma

A Maoist "ordnance factory" engaged in manufacturing weapons and explosives to target security forces has been destroyed in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, a police official said on Saturday.

Acting on intelligence inputs, a joint team of Sukma District Force and 203rd battalion of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), an elite unit of CRPF, located the arms and explosives manufacturing unit of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) on a forested hill near Koimenta village on Friday, he said.

The seized material includes one vertical milling machine, two BGL (barrel grenade launcher), 12 empty BGL shells, 94 BGL heads, one hand grinder machine, six wooden rifle butts, one trigger mechanism (for muzzle-loader), one trigger mechanism with pistol grip, four solar batteries, one borewell drilling bit (10 feet), two gas cutter heads, three directional IED (improvised explosive device) pipes, six metal moulding pots, six iron cutter wheels, 80 steel pipe pieces (for BGL), large quantity of iron scraps and other items, he said.

"The patrolling team had launched the operation from its nearby Metaguda camp. All security personnel returned safely to base after completing search operations in the area. Such action will intensify further in the future. Continuous anti-Naxal operations have caused significant damage to the Maoists' capabilities," the official said.

So far this year, 249 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh, the most notable being the killing of Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju (70), the general secretary and top-most operative of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), and five central committee members.

Of them, 220 were eliminated in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts, including Sukma, while 27 others were gunned down in Gariaband district, which falls in Raipur division. Two other Naxalites were killed in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district in Durg division, as per the police.