Gadchiroli Police busted a Maoist arms manufacturing unit in a forest area under 'Operation Antim Prahar'. Based on intel from surrendered Maoists, joint teams recovered and destroyed equipment including a lathe machine, generator, and solar panels.
In a major anti-Naxal operation, the Gadchiroli Police busted a Maoist arms manufacturing and storage unit hidden inside the forest area of Pomke Binagunda and destroyed the recovered material on the spot.
According to the release, the operation was carried out based on confidential information provided by surrendered Maoists under "Operation Antim Prahar".
According to police, Maoists had secretly buried weapons-making equipment and explosive-related material in the forest to target security forces during Naxal activities, election periods, and other operations.
Acting on the inputs, joint teams of the Special Operation Squad, Pranhita unit, and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) launched a search operation on May 21 under the guidance of Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police M. Ramesh.
During the search on May 22, police recovered a lathe machine, BGL pipes, 12-bore pipes, inverter, generator, batteries, grinding and drilling machines, jig saw machine, pressure pump, solar panels, and other Maoist-related equipment from the forest area.
All seized material was later destroyed at the site under senior officers' supervision.
The operation was conducted under the leadership of Additional SPs Karthik Madhira and Gokul Raj G, along with DySP Vishal Nagargoje. The SP praised the efforts of the police and BDDS personnel involved in the mission.
Broader Success of 'Operation Antim Prahar'
Earlier, Gadchiroli Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) arrested eight Maoists and secured the surrender of five senior cadres during the anti-Naxal drive 'Operation Antim Prahar', marking a major breakthrough in the fight against Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in the district.
Superintendent of Police (SP) M Ramesh said the operation had led to the complete removal of Maoists from the district police's official wanted records.
"CRPF and Gadchiroli police had launched 'Operation Antim Prahar', under which eight Maoists were arrested... No Maoist then remained on its official 'wanted' records after the launch of 'Operation Antim Prahar'," he said.
Key Arrests and Seizures
According to police, the arrested Maoists included two Divisional Committee Members (DVCMs) and two Platoon Party Committee Members (PPCMs). Several of them were allegedly involved in the February 7 Phodewada encounter in which a C-60 commando was killed.
The Maharashtra government had announced a combined reward of Rs 64 lakh for the arrested cadres.
Security forces had recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition during the operation, including 51 firearms such as LMGs, AK-47 rifles, INSAS rifles, SLRs, .303 rifles, 12-bore guns and BGL launchers.
Police also seized detonators, live cartridges, Maoist literature and Rs 65.34 lakh in cash, allegedly meant for future attacks.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)