BHAWANIPATNA: A Huge cache of explosives was seized from a Maoist camp following an exchange of fire between the Maoists and security personnel in a forest near Katolghati village of Kalahandi district on Wednesday.

District Voluntary Force (DVF) jawans raided the forest under Sulia gram panchayat, 15 km from the district headquarters town, after being informed about a meeting being held there by Maoists.

Informing this to mediapersons, Kalahandi SP B Gangdhar said the Maoists were present in a hillock in the forest and seeing the DVF jawans, they opened fire. When the jawans retaliated, the ultras escaped into the forest leaving behind arms and explosives in their  temporary camp. The SP said that there were 10 to 12 Maoists present during the exchange of fire including four women cadres and some cadres in plain clothes who are suspected to be militia.

The jawans seized three 12-bore countrymade guns, a live tiffin bomb containing 500 gram explosives, detonator, radio sets, Maoist literature besides, blankets, jackets, uniforms, solar plates, radio sets and water containers. The tiffin bomb was defused.

The SP further informed that Kalahandi Dalam, Indravati Dalam and Niyamgiri Dalam of Bansadhara-Ghumusar-Nagavali (BGN) Division of the CPI (Maoist) besides, a new Dalam of Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Boudh-Nayagarh division of the outfit are active in the district.

The cadres are mostly from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana and only a handful of them are from Odisha. “Local villagers are not supporting them voluntarily but are being forced to do so,” Gangadhar added.