Bhubaneswar, Oct. 19: Security forces today destroyed a Maoist camp near Kharimari village within Adaba police limits in the Naxal-affected Gajapati district.
Though some uniforms and food materials were seized from the camp, the rebels managed to escape. The security forces, who were conducting a combing operation, raided the camp around 9am while the Maoists were busy cooking.
Sources said the rebels in the camp belonged to a group led by Nikhil, a local Maoist leader. Security in the area has been beefed up in the wake of the raid.
In another development, a bid by the Maoists to trigger blasts in Kandhamal district was averted following discovery of 100kg of landmines by the security forces late last night. Senior police officials said the mines, kept in four containers, had been planted on a road near Godibali under Daringbadi police station.
The explosives were found during a combing operation by a joint team of police, paramilitary forces and the Special Operations Group. The explosives were believed to be powerful enough to blow up a truck.
Significantly, the landmines were discovered about a week after a local Maoist leader, Jagannath Nayak, had reportedly told the police that a group of rebels from Bihar and Jharkhand had been planning to attack two police stations and a CRPF camp there.
Nayak was arrested from Daringbadi last week. He is reported to have told his interrogators that the Maoists were likely to target police stations at Brahmanigaon and Daringbadi, apart from a CRPF camp at Paniganda village. Maoist activities in Kandhamal have increased following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram at Jaleshpeta on August 23, 2008. The killings triggered one of the worst riots in the history of Orissa that claimed about 38 lives.
A special watch is being kept on Daringbadi and Brahmanigaon, the latter being close to Rayagada on one side and Gajapati on the other. Police officials said they were not willing to take any chances as both Rayagada and Gajapati were known Maoist bastions and the possibility of rebels operating in Kandhamal sneaking into these districts could not be ruled out.
