ANANTAPUR: In a massive haul of ammunition and explosives, the Anantapur police seized a large number of rockets, landmines and claymore mines after unearthing four dumps of the CPI (Maoist) in the last four days. Recovery of such huge dumps is being seen as another heavy blow to Maoist activities in the district.

Giving details to mediapersons on Wednesday, Superintendent of Police M.S. Ravindra said the dumps were unearthed during combing operations by special police parties. The dumps were unearthed from the Palyam forest area in Mudigubba mandal, near Payakati Cheruvu in Nallamada mandal and Batrepalli forest area in Kadiri mandal.

Counter-offensive

The combing operations were a part of a tactical counter-offensive to prevent the Maoists from targeting elected representatives and the police to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the encounter killings of three top leaders of the party five years back, the SP stated.

Landmines and claymore mines found on the Mudigubba-Bukkapatnam road, near Amagondapalyam in Puttaparthi mandal and near Bilvampalli village of Dharamavaram mandal were deactivated.

Claiming this was the largest dump unearthed in the entire Rayalaseema region, the SP said the existence of Maoists was already reduced to naught with the recent encounter in Kadapa district.

The haul comprised 14 rockets, 7 rocket launcher stands, 71 hand grenades, 26 firearms (one SLR, five .303 rifles, three 410 muskets, one .8mm rifle, three DBBL guns, five SBBL guns, three revolvers, five tapanchas and a large number of cartridges and bullets), 19 claymore mines, 12 land mines, 7 tin bombs and 4 boosters.

Besides, there were a remote control which could blast four cars at a time, two walkie-talkies, 280 gelatin sticks, 1,175 electric detonators, 600 non-electric detonators, five tins of blasting powder, 12 camera flashes and revolutionary literature.

Blasting material

Srikakulam Special Correspondent writes: A huge arms dump, reportedly belonging to the Maoists, was recovered by the police in an interior place between Budambo and Sabakota villages in Mandasa mandal of Srikakulam district on Tuesday night. According to the police, the arms dump consisted of mainly blasting material which included 15 kg of gelatine sticks, claymore mines and plastic buckets and bullets meant for loading AK-47 and SLRs. The police had information that the Maoists were organising AOB (Andhra Orissa Border) week from December 2 to 9.

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