Gariaband

Security forces on Saturday recovered more than Rs 46 lakh in cash, arms and ammunition, a laptop and other materials from Maoist hideouts in a forested area of Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district, an official said.

The recoveries were made from Sanpsati, a forested and hilly region near village Badegobra under Mainpur police station limits, based on inputs provided by surrendered Naxalites, the official said.

According to police, the former ultras had disclosed details about items concealed by senior cadres of the outlawed movement’s Dhamtari-Gariaband-Nuapada (DGN) division.

“Based on these inputs, identified locations were mapped and a joint team comprising the district police force’s E-30 unit from Gariaband and the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from neighbouring Dhamtari district was dispatched,” the official said.

During an intensive search operation in the marked forest and hill terrain, security personnel recovered Rs 46,31,500 in cash from multiple dump sites hidden in the hills.

The seized firearms and ammunition included one muzzle-loading gun and 33 muzzle-loading rounds, one country-made rifle, 32 Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) shells, 10 rounds of INSAS rifle, 11 rounds of Self Loading Rifle, 45 rounds of AK-47 rifle, 41 rounds of .303 rifle, 23 rounds of single-shot rifle and 26 rounds of 12-bore gun.

Security personnel also recovered one laptop, two mobile phones, 13 electronic detonators and 10 non-electronic detonators, along with a large quantity of Maoist literature and materials.

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The official claimed that sustained anti-Naxal operations by Gariaband police over the past two years, along with awareness campaigns on the state government’s rehabilitation policy, have resulted in the entire listed cadre of the DGN division active in the region until January this year either being neutralised or surrendering.