IED event in Odisha, Gandhamardan Hill near Khandijharan village in Bargarh District area, India on Thu 23rd February 2023

Security Forces (SFs) destroyed a Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) camp after an exchange of fire with the Maoists on Gandhamardan Hill near Khandijharan village under Paikmal Police limits in Bargarh District of Odisha on February 23, reports The New Indian Express. Bargarh Superintendent of Police (SP) Prahalad Sahai Meena said, based on the intel about the presence of Maoists on Gandhamardan Hill, an anti-Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] operation was launched by a joint team of the Special Operations Group (SOG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on February 21. "While the combing operation was underway, an exchange of fire took place between the security forces and the Maoists at around 8.30 a.m. on Friday [February 23]. Following the gun battle, our team searched the area and seized a number of Maoist articles.” Meena informed me that the entire Maoist camp was destroyed in the operation, but there were no casualties. During the search, the SFs recovered Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), eight bags, clothes, food, and other Maoist articles. “We seized some posters purportedly written by Maoists on a few occasions, including in the run-up to the Padampur bypoll in December 2022. However, there was no Maoist violence in Bargarh after the June 2021 encounter. Maoists often use Gandhamardan Hill, spanning over Bolangir and Bargarh districts, as a transit route between Odisha and Chhattisgarh,” the officer said. Sources said the ‘Bolangir-Bargarh and Mahasamund (BBM) division’ of the banned CPI-Maoist is operating along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border.