The CRPF has busted a mini arms factory of the banned CPI (Maoist) during a ‘search and destroy operation’ in Simdega district of Jharkhand.
Seized items included welding, drill and lathe machines besides finished and semi-finished weapons including those of AK series rifles and 9mm pistols. Hundreds of other semi fabricated country made weapons, spare parts, machines and tools were also recovered during the five-day operation launched by the CoBRA battalions of the CRPF and Jharkhand Jaguar on Wednesday.
Other items seized after the operation included seven bench vice machine, 40 half-made desi katta, barrels, magazines, trigger guard, recoil spring and other such parts used for making weapons.
The arms factory was located in the jungles of Helgara under Bano police station of the district and was being run by People’s liberation Front of India, a splinter group of CPI (Maoist), involved in violence in Simdega and Khunti districts.
During simultaneous operation in Gumla, the paramilitary along with the State police arrested 11 PlFI cadres including dreaded sub-zonal commander Rajan Ji and recovered 11 weapons and live ammunition from them.
The forces also recovered 125 IEDs from Madanpur in lohardaga district. This place is barely 21 km away from Hurmur where 86 simultaneous IED blasts took place on May 3, 2011, in which 11 security personnel were martyred and 52 others injured.
During intensive search operation, 23 grenades and three pressure cooker IEDs were also recovered by CoBRA troops in adjoining jungles of the district.
The ultra-left extremists rely on weapons looted from the security forces but during the last few months the ultras have suffered a number of reverses at the hands of security personnel. The CPI (Maoists) also has elaborate plans to manufacture arms to expand their area of influence. A technical committee of the outfit oversees efforts towards setting up arms manufacturing facilities that established using machines/equipment and materials available in the open market.