Workers laying a road in West Midnapore stumbled upon a sack full of arms and ammunition on Wednesday afternoon after a pay loader hit a heavy object.

The cache found at Nalbona village in Goaltore, nearly 170km from Calcutta, was presumably buried at least a decade ago, police said.

“Some 36 firearms and over 400 rounds of ammunition have been found,” said an officer at Goaltore police station. “We have initiated a probe.”

The arms, the bulk of them rusted, were wrapped in a blanket and placed inside a sack.

Hemmed in by dense forests, Goaltore was among the Maoist hotspots at Jungle Mahal in Bengal in 2009 when Operation Lalgarh was launched by the security forces that eventually achieved area domination.

The cache was presumably buried at least a decade ago, police said. Telegraph photo

The region was traditionally a Left stronghold under the leadership of the CPM’s Sushanta Ghosh.

“The Maoists made a deep dent before 2009,” said an IPS officer. “We can’t rule out chances of some of the Maoist units later returning to Goaltore when the Left resistance had weakened and burying these arms and ammunition.”

Wednesday’s recovery has opened a political slugfest with Trinamul MP Saugata Roy saying that it appears the Left had tucked the cache of arms underground.

Ghosh denied any link of the CPM with the arms. “It’s common knowledge that yesterday’s Maoist leaders are

Trinamul office-bearers today. The police should interrogate them to get the details,” he said.