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A large amount of explosives suspected to have been dumped by the Maoists along the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha has been seized, police said. Acting on a tip-off, police seized 50 kg of explosive codex wire, 100 detonators and 15 radio sets in Lamataput area in Koraput district, Superintendent of Police Avinav Sonkar said. He said the explosives are suspected to have been dumped by the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit for future use against security forces.
Security forces engaged in anti-Naxal operation detected 120 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) planted by Maoists in Jharkhand's Latehar district, police said. The security forces detected the IEDs planted by the Maoists to target them in Budapahad area of Latehar district, which was earlier a den of the Maoists, on Friday, the police said. The IEDs have been defused, they said. The Budapahad area was earlier a stronghold of the Maoists but now the security forces have established a camp in the area. The security forces on Thursday also detected and seized a 15 kg cooker bomb, a claymore mine, three detonators, one Motorola wireless set, two ammunition pouches, and naxal literature in Latehar and Garhwa districts, a police statement said. Security forces have also launched an operation in Kolhan area of West Singhbhum district to apprehend top Maoist leader Misir Besra alias Sagar, carrying a reward of Rs one crore on his head. In course of the operation in Kolhan, security for
As many as 650 active Maoist supporters -- residents of villages along the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border -- surrendered before the police, a senior officer here said. Most of them are members of local village committees or Chetana Natya Mandali a cultural outfit linked to CPI(Maoist) in Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri district, once a Red corridor that lay cut-off from mainland Odisha, the police officer said. "The surrendered Maoist supporters hail from remote villages of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The supporters used to assist the cadres of the banned outfit in carrying out attacks on security forces and civilians, besides other violent activities," said Rajesh Pandit, DIG (south-western range). Raising slogans such as "Maobadi Murdabad, Ama Sarkar Jindabad", the sympathisers burnt Maoist literature, effigies, and uniforms worn by cadres of the banned outfit before surrendering on Saturday. The Swabhiman Anchal, comprising 182 villages, is experiencing a "quick turnaround", with
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday acquitted former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, and ordered his immediate release from jail. A division bench of Justice Rohit Deo and Anil Pansare allowed the appeal filed by Saibaba challenging a 2017 order of the trial court convicting him and sentencing him to life imprisonment. Saibaba, who is wheelchair-bound due to a physical disability, is currently lodged at the Nagpur central prison. The bench also allowed the appeal of five other convicts in the case and acquitted them. One of the five died pending hearing of the appeal. The bench directed for the convicts to be released forthwith from jail unless they are accused in any other case. In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district had convicted Saibaba and others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student for alleged Maoist links and for indulging in activities amounting to waging