Narkol (Jamui), Feb. 11: Security forces have made their first attempt to penetrate the till-now impregnable citadel of Maoists in Bihar, swooping down on camps and bunkers of the rebels in the dense Bhimbandh forests that straddles the districts of Munger, Jamui and Lakhisarai.

Teams from the police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the crack Cobra battalion carried out the nearly weeklong operation in the eastern Bihar forests — the fortress and nerve-centre of the Maoists — which began early on February 5 (Sunday) and ended around 5 this morning.

The police today displayed a huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives apart from Maoist literature, which they said had been seized during the operation, codenamed Vinash.

However, in spite of the huge catch of arms and ammunition, the security forces were not able to display a single captured Maoist. “The Maoists are always at an advantage because of the topography of the region. No matter how secret we keep the operations, they are able to flee their bunkers in the dense forests even if the force is just 250 metres away,” deputy inspector-general of police, Munger, Anil Kishore Yadav said by way of explanation. He, however, stressed that the operation was a success as around a dozen bunkers of the Maoists had been destroyed and arms and ammunition meant for subversive acts recovered.

For over two decades, the Bhimbandh forests, with its hilly, woody and inaccessible terrain, have served as the den, and hub, of the Maoists in Bihar. The rebels’ control over the jungles has been so complete that even forest department officials dare not venture inside. It was here that then Munger superintendent of police K.C. Surendra Babu, along with five of his bodyguards, was killed in a landmine explosion in 2005.

DIG Yadav said security forces decided on Operation Vinash after receiving intelligence inputs that Maoists in large numbers had gathered in the forests to mark martyrs’ day on January 31. Over 2,500 personnel drawn from the police force of the districts, CRPF and the Cobra battalion entered the forests during the night of February 4-5 with a mission to strike at 40 different targets, most of them spread across the Lakshmipur-Barhet areas of Jamui.

“We recovered a lot of arms and ammunition along with items of daily use at Narkol, some 15km from the Bhimbandh forest guest house. We were surprised to learn that the outfit had organised its 9th congress in the area in 2007,” said DIG, CRPF, Umesh Kumar. He said some of the documents seized in the raids indicated that the Maoists intended to hold its 10th congress there soon.

Securitymen believe that for the Maoists, the Bhimbandh forests are a highly protected zone where no cadre below the rank of platoon commander was entitled to stay inside its fortified bunkers. Top ranking Maoists such as Ganapati and leaders from Nepal used to stay in these hideouts, said Bidhan Chadra Patra, commandant of 131 battalion of the CRPF.

Patra shared his experiences about the operation during which the forces would walk about 15-18km everyday. “We managed to read the signals of the outlaws — like we found a piece of red cloth which was wrapped around a branch of a tall tree or found some cut marks on the trees etc. We intercepted such signals and dug out the ground below from where we recovered the arms and ammunition,” he said. Plastic tanks used for storing water were used by the rebels to hide their weapons, Patra disclosed.

Another police official said the forces recovered several pieces of ladies clothing and personal hygiene items from the bunkers and training camps which suggested that a sizeable number of women were present.