Security forces have seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from Odisha’s Malkangiri during an operation to flush out suspected Maoists.

During the operation on Wednesday, the security forces recovered 14 hand grenades, two land mines, 13 electronic detonators and more than 140 live cartridges.

Security forces intensified their operations in the hilly terrain following the visit of director-general of police Abhay on Sunday to review the situation. Abhay, who reviewed anti-Maoist operations in the region bordering Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, along with BSF inspector-general M.S. Sharma, had appealed to the rebels to give up arms and avail of the state government’s “excellent” rehabilitation policy benefits.

“People of the area want development. The government, too, wants development. However, Maoists have been trying to spread terror. I appeal to them to surrender. The government has an excellent rehabilitation policy for them,” Abhay had said.

Earlier known as the “cut-off” area because of its difficult topography, this part of Malkangiri was rechristened as “Swabhiman Anchal” following the inauguration of the Gurupriya bridge connecting it with the district’s mainland in 2018. The “cut-off” area shot into international headlines in 2011 when the then Malkangiri collector, R. Vineel Krishna, was kidnapped by the rebels. He was released by the Maoists following weeklong negotiations with the state government.

The turning point for the residents of this once benighted belt, that got cut off from the mainland in 1960s following the construction of the Machkund reservoir, was the inauguration of the Gurupriya bridge by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in July 2018. It connected 151 villages having a population of 25,000 with the rest of the district by a road after around five decades.

Before the bridge was inaugurated, the only means of communication with the mainland for the people of this region were boats. While the residents faced all kinds of hardship, they were also forced to follow the diktat of the rebels who ruled the roost in the area which the security forces found hard to penetrate and government officials rarely visited for the fear of the Maoists.

The scenario has changed now with the BSF setting up six camps iin the area. While the security forces are now in a strong position to step up their operations against the rebels, the area is also witnessing development for the first time in decade.