Four Maoist’s hideouts were busted and a huge cache of live ammunition were recovered following a gun battle between the militants and security men in the Gandhamardhan reserve forest in Odisha’s Bargarh district.
Ten to 15 CPI (Maoists) activists managed to free after the exchange of fire that took place at around 7.30 a.m. on Saturday, said a statement issued by the Odisha Police.
Upon reliable intelligence input regarding the camping of CPI (Maoists) activists planning violent anti-state activities in the Gandhamardhan reserve forest area, Special Operation Group (SOG) teams of Bargarh-Bolangir along with CRPF platoons started joint an anti-Naxal operation in the area.
An encounter took place for around 30 minutes. The naxal group could manage to escape under the cover of the dense forest and heavy rainfall, the police said.
During the search operation, the SOG team found four naxal camps in a row and recovered live ammunition, empty cartridges and camp articles from the spot.