Raipur, Nov 4 (NationPress) In the dense jungles of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, a clandestine Naxalite arms factory has been dismantled, its equipment wrecked and supplies confiscated following a rapid operation by the District Reserve Guard (DRG).

Responding to precise intelligence, the DRG operatives navigated through the undergrowth in the Koimenta-Erapalli area and unveiled a comprehensive arms manufacturing site that the Maoists had secretly maintained for months, aiming to equip themselves for a new wave of offensives.

What the troops discovered was far from a temporary setup; it was a disguised workshop powered by solar energy. Seventeen homemade rifles, each capable of sustained firing, were found partially assembled alongside barrel-grenade launchers intended to devastate patrols.

Inside the expansive hideout, mounds of steel rods, trigger components, lathe machines, drilling bits, and welding kits were present, while crates filled with gelatin sticks, detonators, and circuit boards awaited assembly into roadside explosives.

Sukma Superintendent of Police (SP) Kiran Chavan later informed the media that information from surrendered cadres had revealed the factory’s location weeks prior, indicating that fear now spreads faster than ideology among the Maoist factions.

This year alone, 249 Naxalites have been neutralized in confrontations across Bastar, including the movement’s General Secretary, Nambala Keshav Rao. One officer described the atmosphere at the site, thick with the scent of gun oil and fresh metal shavings.

Blueprints affixed to tree bark detailed plans for rifles that could rival military-grade accuracy, showcasing a desperate attempt to replace the hundreds of firearms lost in this year’s clashes.

As winter approaches and local elections loom, this factory represented a vital lifeline for the insurgents; its destruction has severed that lifeline completely. The entire facility was incinerated before nightfall, with flames reaching the treetops as explosives were detonated safely.

All personnel returned to the Metaguda camp unscathed, their radios buzzing with quiet victory.

Of the 220 fatalities, many occurred within the same seven districts surrounding Sukma, transforming once-impenetrable forests into operational zones for security forces. Villagers who once paid taxes to the rebels now observe DRG units pass by with hands folded, sensing the diminishing of the red corridor with each destroyed workshop.

For the Maoists, this loss signifies more than just the destruction of materials; it represents the end of their aspirations to continue the fight. For the security forces, it is another dawn patrol planned deeper into the wilderness, aiming to extinguish the next hidden threat before it can flare up.

"The timing couldn’t have been worse for them," the SP remarked. "With 249 Naxalites neutralized statewide this year, including the top CPI(Maoist) General Secretary, Nambala Keshav Rao, this factory was their last-ditch effort to recover. We made sure it became their tomb."