SOG Jawans, Maoists Exchange Fire In Odisha’s Nabarangpur; Contraceptives Seized from Deserted Camp
While a high alert has been sounded in bordering Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts following a deadly Naxal attack in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, police personnel and Maoists exchanged fires in Nabarangpur district on Wednesday.
The exchange of fire continued for around half an hour after which Maoists preferred to escape from the spot. A huge cache of Maoist materials including IEDs and contraceptives were seized from the deserted camp of naxals. The seizure of contraceptives hinted at the sexual exploitation of females in the Maoist organization.
The SOG personnel came across a group of around 25 armed CPI (Maoist) cadres including Murli, Kartik, Guddu, Akash and Nandal near Saibin Kachhar village under Udanti Sanctuary in Gariyabandh district of Chhattisgarh around 9.30 am yesterday, said a police officer.
However, taking advantage of the darkness and the dense forest, all the Maoists managed to flee the area.
“Most of these Maoists hailed from villages in the north of Saibin Kachar in Udanti forest under the Shova police station limits of Gariyaband district in Chhattisgarh,” S Sushree said.
Later, the police searched the Maoist hideout and recovered a large amount of Maoist materials from the forest. The confiscated items include Maoist posters, banners, two hangings, detonators, batteries, five live bullets, one solar plate, an umbrella, food items, plastic, contraceptives, mosquito repellents, medicines, etc.
“The gunfight between the SOG jawans and Maoists has demoralised the extremists who were terrorising the people in the region by putting up intimidating posters and through extortions. They were also responsible for most of the criminal activities in the region. We hope that this will end now,” S Sushree said.
