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Huge cache of arms recovered in Jangalmahal

Ananya Dutta

KOLKATA: A huge cache of arms has been recovered and 10 armed Maoist cadres arrested from the Jangalmahal area of West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district over the past three days, officials said on Sunday.

“About 15 of the 23 guns obtained in the raids and an encounter are licensed weapons. We are investigating to see if these could be among those stolen by Maoists when they attacked the police thana at Sankrail,” Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma told The Hindu over telephone.

Maoists had attacked the thana at Sankrail on October 20 last. They killed two policemen and abducted officer-in-charge Atindranath Dutta, who was released two days later.

Two raids conducted

Over the past three days, the joint security forces have conducted two raids and engaged in an encounter in which a Maoist was killed.

They recovered 23 guns, over 140 rounds of ammunition, explosives, landmines, gelatin sticks and detonators in these raids, he said.

“We are more successful in conducting operations these days because we are targeting the direct action man — leaders and organisers among Maoists. And these raids are being conducted on the basis of very specific intelligence,” Mr. Verma said, adding that several weapons had been seized in the past 15 days.

He also said since the joint security forces have been in the region since June last, the quality of intelligence inputs received was better and the forces were more familiar with the terrain.

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