3 cache of Red arms unearthed

BERHAMPUR: Police unearthed three arms cache of Maoists in Khadisaru forest along Ganjam-Kandhmal border on Saturday.
They recovered three self-loading rifles (SLRs), 793 rounds of ammunition (318 rounds of SLR, 240 rounds of .303 and 206 rounds of 9 mm, 19 rounds of INSAS and 10 rounds of .22 rifles), 30 magazines (19 for INSAS, nine SLR and two for .303), 20 charge clips, two batteries, two battery stands, two steel containers and belts.
"The arms dumps were found during a search operation conducted jointly by police, district voluntary force (Ganjam) and CRPF in the forest under Ganjam's Sorada police limits," DIG (southern range) Amitabh Thakur told a news conference on Sunday.
The locations of the arms dumps were identified by former Odisha Maobadi Patry (OMP) leader Pramod Majhi alias Sagar, he said. Sagar was allegedly involved in over 50 Maoist incidents and acting as the second-in command to Sabyasachi Panda in the OMP. He surrendered before police on January 5.
"We suspect these arms were looted from Nayagarh armoury of when the rebels attacked the district in 2008," said SP (Ganjam) Narasingha Bhol.
Police said it was the biggest haul of arms and ammunition from the area after Sabyasachi was arrested here on July 17 last year. Police unearthed huge quantities of arms and ammunition from the forests in Ganjam and Gajapati districts on March 19 and February 28 last year and arrested three female cadres, Nikita, D Anita and Sukanti.
"Combing operations will be intensified along Ganjam-Kandhamal border as we suspect presence of more cache of arms," Bhol added.