Maoist hideout busted in Aurangabad; forces recover huge cache of arms, explosives

The forces recovered 14 firearms, including INSAS, SLR, bolt action rifles and 9mm pistols, 21 cane bombs, pressure IDs 1,763 detonators, 1,000 meters of fuse wire, 21 pressure switches, 36 batteries and other items used in explosions

In a big offensive against the CPI(Maoist) in the hilly forest terrain bordering Jharkhand, a joint team of the Aurangabad Police, Special Task Force (STF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) recovered a huge cache of sophisticated firearms, high grade explosives, IEDs and other war-like equipment during a joint operation in the Laduiya Pahar hills, which fall under the Madanpur police station limits of Aurangabad district in south Bihar on Tuesday.

Security forces with the arms haul on Tuesday. (Sourced Image)

Two zonal squads of the People Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), under the command of former central committee member and top Maoist ideologue Pramod Mishra, zonal commanders Nitish Yadav and Abhijit Yadav, had assembled on the hill to plan a landmine explosion and ambush the police and paramilitary that was conducting intensive search operation in the area, the police said.

However, the STF Cheeta Company and CRPF 205 battalion cordoned off the hill in the morning after receiving specific intel about the development. The Maoist fled towards the deep Jharkhand forests leaving behind the cache of arms and explosives in their hideout.

The forces recovered 14 firearms, including INSAS, SLR, bolt action rifles and 9mm pistols, 21 cane bombs, pressure IDs 1,763 detonators, 1,000 meters of fuse wire, 21 pressure switches, 36 batteries and other items used in explosions. Most of the weapons were looted from police and paramilitaries, superintendent of police Kantesh Kumar Mishra said.

A case under sections of Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosives Act and the UAPA have been registered against 11 named and 15 unidentified Maoists. The police and paramilitary have alerted their Jharkhand counterparts and are conducting operations to flush out the Maoists, Mishra said.

Earlier this year, the Aurangabad police and CRPF recovered 20 sophisticated firearms, 1,618 live rounds, 73 rifle magazines, 2,096 cane IEDs, pressure bombs, 2,311 electric detonators, and 1,535 kgs of high-grade explosives from Maoist hideouts. They also arrested 47 Maoists and recovered over ₹20 lakh in cash from them, Mishra said.

The ultras suffered a significant setback after the arrest of central committee member Vijay Kumar Arya, alias Jaspal Ji, in Rohtas and the killing of Bihar-Jharkhand special area committee head Sandeep Yadav in Gaya. Police said the two were planning a big operation against the forces in retaliation to cadres leaving the outfit due to the mounting pressure by security forces.