In the latest blow to left wing extremism in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, the Border Security Force (BSF) busted an ammunition dump suspected to have been used by the Maoists for illegal manufacturing and repair of weapons to target the security forces.

Acting on specific intelligence input, a special operation was conducted by BSF troops from the Company Operating Base (COB) Bodigetta within the Bejangiwada Reserve Forest area.

After a thorough search operation, Maoist dump hidden beneath rock cavities inside caves in the Bejangiwada Reserve Forest under Kalimela police station jurisdiction was unearthed on Thursday, BSF said in a statement.

The Bejangiwada Reserve Forest area has long been a stronghold for Maoist cadres and their sympathizers, who have used the region for sustenance and as a base for operations.

The Maoist outfits in this forested region often hoard Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), IED-making materials, arms, and other supplies in isolated locations to target security Forces and police personnel operating in the area, it said.

BSF’s active operations in the Malkangiri district have greatly increased the sense of security among local residents. The recovery of these IEDs and other materials serves to demoralize Maoist sympathizers in the area and will further motivate Security Forces to continue their operations with renewed vigor, added the statement.

Maoists took advantage of the topographical isolation of the cut-off area and had established their base to operate from here. Malkangiri was the worst-affected due to Maoists’ violence. But that has become a thing of the past, said a senior official of Malkangiri.

The construction of Machhkund and Balimela multi-purpose irrigation and hydroelectricity projects in the sixties and eighties had altered the topography of the region and the place remained cut off from the mainland. It had provided the Maoists to flourish due to seclusion of the place and unleash a reign of terror.

The multi-dimensional development initiatives by the government- construction of the River Bridge, all-weather roads, provision of drinking water, erection of mobile towers, improved healthcare facilities and education for children- are paying dividends. With the LWE fizzing out, the areas are on the path of development. Fear of gun-toting Maoists unleashing terror no longer persists in about 151 villages of Swabhimam Anchala, he added.