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Orissa police recover more arms

Special Correspondent

BHUBANESWAR: Continuing their search, the Orissa police on Friday recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunitions looted by Maoists from two armouries in Nayagarh district last week.

In a statement in the Assembly, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said one hundred and fifty .303 rifles, six INSAS rifles, one short machine gun and some quantities of ammunition were recovered. Some persons were arrested for interrogation.

Earlier, security personnel seized a huge dump of arms and ammunitions left behind by the naxals near Gosama village in Ganjam district on February 18.

“Together, the seizure on both occasions accounts for more than 60 per cent of the weapons and more than 70 per cent of the ammunition looted,” Mr. Patnaik said.

The Special Operation Group of the State police, the Central Reserve Police Force and Greyhounds had formed into different groups and mounted an extensive search in the forest areas bordering the districts of Kandhamal and Ganjam.

Sustained anti-naxal operations were going on in Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal districts, he said.

The operation to track down the extremists started on February 16, a day after hundreds of armed Maoists raided two police armouries, three police stations and a police outpost in Nayagarh district.

The police in the other districts of the State also launched a drive to see if any of the retreating naxalites had sneaked into their areas. Several persons had been taken into custody in the coastal districts for questioning, sources said.

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