Rajnandgaon: In a major haul of Maoists' weaponry, three improvised rocket launchers and two detonators have been seized from a dense forest in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district, police said on Thursday.
The rocket launchers were recovered on Wednesday by a joint team of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and district police from the forest under Madanwada police station limits, Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police P Sundarraj said.
On receiving specific inputs that improvised rocket launchers and directional mines were hidden between Dorede and Birjupara village forests, the joint squad of security personnel launched an operation in the region, located around 200 kms from the state capital, he said.
While cordoning off the area, three improvised rocket launchers, two detonators and flexible wires hidden underground were recovered, the SP said.
According to a senior police official involved in anti-Naxal operations, in 2005, rockets and launchers were recovered from Dhoudai police station limits of the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district.
Now, after a long time such launchers have been again recovered in the region, the official said on condition of anonymity.
"It is suspected that Naxals have now developed very powerful rockets that can cause major damage, but still they need to get equipped with good quality launchers," he said.
The rocket launchers pose a real threat to the flying machines (helicopters and choppers) in the region, he said. In 2012, the Naxals had fired a rocket launcher at Golapalli police station in Sukma district but it missed the target and there was no damage or casualty in the incident, he said.
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