Bhubaneswar, Aug. 3: Rajgangpur police have destroyed a camp of the People’s Liberation Front of India, an alleged criminal organisation which claims itself to be a Maoist body.

Sundergarh police superintendent Sanjeeb Arora said: “We had specific information regarding their movement. We reached the spot on time, but the encounter did not last long as they managed to flee. We have recovered arms and ammunition, besides some valuable documents that will give us good leads.”

The police superintendent said they had alerted all police stations in the region and combing operations had been launched in many areas.

The police suspect that some of the members of the front were injured in the encounter. However, they had escaped.

Acting on a tip off, a team of Rajgangpur police launched a drive in an area deep inside the Dumejharan forest area. They were informed about the movement of around 10-14 youths.

The cops reached the designated spot around 1am. However, the security forces were immediately challenged by the front members.

In retaliation, the police team also fired at them.

The members of the front, soon fled the spot when the found that they were outnumbered and were no match to the firepower of the police team.

The operation lasted about 30 minutes and the members managed to escape deep into the forest towards Gurundia.

All police stations on their suspected route have been put on alert as it is believed that they are trying to regroup.

Nobody was arrested in the encounter. However, the police have recovered seven handmade rifles, one country made pistol, 74 live rounds, besides mobiles, notebooks and some other materials.