Satyanarayan PattnaikKoraput: Rayagada Police recovered a cache of firearms, ammunition and Maoist logistics from a concealed dump inside the Raghubari Reserve Forest under Ambadala police limits, dealing another blow to the banned CPI (Maoist)’s efforts to regroup in the region.“Our sustained anti-Maoist operations, backed by actionable intelligence obtained from recently surrendered Maoist cadres, have once again yielded significant results. This recovery has disrupted the Maoists’ attempt to preserve arms and logistics for future use. We will continue intensive combing, area domination and intelligence-based operations with SOG, DVF and CRPF to ensure that Rayagada remains free from any resurgence of Left Wing Extremism,” Rayagada SP Raj Prasad said.The recovery was made during a joint search operation conducted on July 2 by personnel of the District Voluntary Force (DVF) and the Special Operations Group (SOG). Acting on intelligence gathered during the interrogation of surrendered Maoist cadres, the teams launched a focused combing operation in the forest and located the concealed dump.Police seized a .303 rifle, dismantled parts of a sten gun, a country-made firearm, 37 rounds of .303 ammunition, 25 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, three sten magazines, 10 rifle grenade launcher (RBGL) shells, cordex wire, gunpowder, Maoist literature and several other items, including food supplies, medicines, clothing and daily-use articles.Preliminary investigation indicates that the recovered weapons and ammunition belonged to the banned CPI (Maoist)’s Banshadhara-Ghumusar-Nagabali Division and were concealed for future use by Maoist cadres operating in the area.Police said this is the second major Maoist dump unearthed in the district within a month. On June 13, security forces recovered another cache of arms, ammunition and explosives from the Dhepaguda Reserve Forest under Ambadala police station limits.Officials said Rayagada achieved its target of becoming Naxal-free by March 31 this year following the surrender of 16 Maoist cadres, including senior leaders, between May 2025 and Feb 2026. Joint operations by the police, SOG, DVF and CRPF will continue to detect hidden Maoist dumps and prevent any revival of extremist activities in the district.
