8th Naxal tunnel spotted in Bastar
�Raipur: A Maoist bunker used by the ultras to duck aerial surveillance, dump arms and ammunition and run a weapon making unit has been found by the security forces in Pujari Kanker area in Bijapur district in south Bastar of Chhattisgarh, police said on Sunday.
The bunker was spotted by the district reserve guard (DRG) personnel during the January 16 encounter with the Maoists in the forested area, a senior district police officer said.
The tunnel-shaped bunker, camouflaged with leaves, had electricity supply from a generator and can easily hide around a dozen people during surveillance through drones in the area and was also used as an arms dump.
Recovery of lathe machines and other raw materials used for making weapons in the bunker indicated that it was used as a weapon making factory by the Maoists, the police officer said, unwilling to be quoted.
The tunnel was built on the bank of Tumrel and Talperu rivers which clearly establishes that the bunker can be used as a hideout by the Maoists for a long time, the police officer said.
This was the eighth such Maoist tunnel found in the Leftwing insurgency-hit Bastar in recent times.
Earlier, a bunker built by the Maoists on the bank of Indravati river in Bijapur district was spotted by security personnel.
Around six months ago, security forces had found half-a-dozen tunnels, dug by Maoists, in the jungles in Sukma district in south Bastar.
Maoists were using the bunkers as their hideouts to ambush the security forces and cover them up during the surveillance by drones, police said.
All these tunnels and bunkers were destroyed by security forces.
