Phulbani: In a significant blow to Left-Wing extremism in Odisha, security forces busted an illegal country-made gun manufacturing unit allegedly operated by Maoists in Odisha’s Kandhamal district.
Some finished country-made single-barrel guns, barrels, cutters and other gun manufacturing parts were seized during a combing operation by BSF personnel at Panaspadar village under Bamunigaon police limits on Saturday, according to Balliguda SDPO Shubham Bhosale.
The operation was part of a broader and intensified anti-Maoist drive launched last week across Kandhamal, including Daringbadi, Kotagarh, Tumudibandha, and Bamunigaon, to apprehend the lone Maoist leader from Odisha, Sukru, who is leading a small group of around 13 cadres and operating in the Kandhamal–Kalahandi–Rayagada border region.
While Odisha Police tracked down Sukru’s hiding spot with the help of drones and other gadgets, joint teams, comprising personnel from the Special Operations Group (SOG), BSF, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and other security units are advancing cautiously, inch by inch, through the dense forest at the trijunction of Kandhamal, Rayagada, and Kalahandi districts, where he is taking shelter.
The native of Malkangiri district is carrying a reward of Rs 55 lakh on his head as a state committee member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The neutralisation of his deputy platoon commander, Jagesh, and party member Ratna last month during an exchange of fire with the security forces in Nandabali reserved forest area of the district, came as a blow for the Maoist leader. Sukru, who earlier killed a fellow cadre, Anwesh alias Renu, and buried his body in a forest in Kandhamal district to prevent him from surrendering, is now reportedly contemplating laying down arms himself. However, he is facing stiff resistance from a faction within the CPI (Maoist), largely comprising his junior associates, according to reports.
