Deep in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, a secret Naxalite weapons factory has been raided and reduced to ruins by the District Reserve Guard (DRG). Acting on precise intelligence, the DRG team navigated through the underbrush near the Koimenta-Erapalli area to discover a fully operational ordnance unit that the Maoists had concealed for months, intending to prepare for a new wave of attacks.
What they uncovered was more than just a makeshift shelter; it was a sophisticated workshop equipped with solar panels. The team found seventeen country-made rifles, capable of sustained fire, resting half-assembled next to barrel-grenade launchers designed to disrupt patrols. The hideout was filled with an array of steel rods, trigger mechanisms, lathes, drilling bits, and welding kits. Crates containing gelatin sticks, detonators, and circuit boards lay in wait to be transformed into deadly roadside bombs.
Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan informed reporters that information about the factory had come from surrendered Maoist cadres weeks earlier, signaling a significant shift in morale, where fear appears to have overtaken loyalty to ideology among the ranks of the Maoists. This year alone, 249 Naxalites have been killed in gunfights across Bastar, including the movement’s General Secretary Nambala Keshav Rao. An officer at the site noted the pungent scent of gun oil and fresh metal shavings in the air.
Blueprints scattered on tree bark outlined plans for rifles designed to match the accuracy of military-issued arms, reflecting the rebels’ frantic effort to replenish the weapons they lost in encounters this year. With winter approaching and local elections on the horizon, the factory represented the lifeline for the rebels; its destruction has effectively severed their supply line. By nightfall, the entire complex was obliterated, with flames reaching the treetops as explosives were safely detonated.
Every DRG personnel returned to the Metaguda camp unscathed, their radios buzzing with subdued victory. Among the 249 Naxalite fatalities this year, 220 occurred in the same seven districts surrounding Sukma, transforming previously elusive jungles into hunting grounds for security forces. Villagers who once paid extortion levies now observe DRG units passing by with a sense of resignation, recognizing that the so-called red corridor is shrinking, one destroyed workshop at a time.
For the Maoists, the loss is more than just material; it symbolizes the end of their aspirations to continue the conflict. For security forces, it signifies another step deeper into the wilderness, pursuing every hidden spark before it can ignite into violence. “The timing couldn’t be worse for them,” Superintendent Chavan remarked. “With 249 Naxalites neutralized this year-including the top CPI(Maoist) General Secretary-this factory was their desperate bid to make a comeback. We ensured it became their graveyard.”
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/security-forces-crush-naxal-arms-factory-in-chhattisgarhs-sukma-forests
Category: India
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Publish Date: 2025-11-04 16:01:00
