Phulbani (Odisha), Jul 2 (PTI) Security personnel on Thursday busted a camp of the CPI(Maoist) inside a forest in Odisha's Kandhamal district and seized explosives and other materials from there, a senior police officer said.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of the Special Operation Group (SOG), an anti-extremist force of the Odisha police, launched a combing operation in the forest and found out the camp, Kandhamal Superintendent of Police Prateek Singh said.

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The SOG personnel seized over 15 kilogram of explosives, 28 detonators and tiffin carriers meant to be used as improvised explosive devices (IED) from the camp located near Samarbandh village under Phiringia police station area, he said.

Besides, other articles such as bags, shoes, documents and Maoist literature were also found in the camp.

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The Maoists, however, had fled from the camp before the security personnel reached there, the SP said.

Combing operation has been intensified in the area.

Maoist activities in Phiringia and nearby areas of the district are on the rise for the last two years and steps are being taken to contain them, the SP said.

Police sources said around 15-20 ultras belonging to 'Dassaru' area committee of KKBN (Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Boudh- Nayagarh) division of the CPI (Maoist) have held meetings near Samarbandh village recently, police sources said.

During the Lok Sabha elections last year, members of the KKBN Division had torched two vehicles carrying polling materials, including electronic voting machines, they said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)