Odisha Police Arrest Maoist With AK-47 After Encounter In Koraput’s Petaguda Forest

Bhubaneswar/Koraput: A Maoist was apprehended along with arms and ammunition following an exchange of fire with police in Odisha's Koraput district, an officer said on Thursday.

The arrested Maoist was identified as Kunjam Hidma of Bijepur area of Chhattisgarh.

"He was caught alive inside the dense Petaguda forest in Koraput district during the encounter," Koraput SP Rohit Verma told reporters at Koraput.

The SP said based on intelligence inputs regarding the movement of a group of banned CPI (Maoist) cadres in the forest area near Petguda, a special operation was launched by district police using the DVF (district voluntary force) force led by Parth Kashyap SDPO Jeypore on the night of May 28.

"In the early hours of Thursday, the DVF team noticed a group of Maoists camping at a hill. As the team moved to surround it, the Maoists, opened fire at the DVF team and fled into the jungle. In response, the team exercised controlled fire in self-defence. During the subsequent search, one Maoist cadre was apprehended while attempting to hide in the nearby bushes," Verma said.

The SP said police seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle from the apprehended Maoist.

Hidma, who was an Area Committee Member (ACM) of the banned outfit, was linked to seven major violent incidents in the region including Odisha, the SP said.

"Kunjam Hidma is also involved in many other anti-government and anti-national activities in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh area, which will be verified during the investigation," the SP added.

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