Malkangiri: Five Maoists, including a woman cadre, were killed in a fierce encounter with security personnel inside a forest near Papluru village in the cut-off areas of Chitrakonda block in Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Sunday night.
Giving details to the media on Monday, Additional Director General (ADG), Operation, RP Koche said acting on a tip-off about the presence of armed Maoists, including some of the top cadres in Papluru area, a joint team of Odisha Police and the Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel began a combing operation on Saturday night.
“During the search operation inside the forest, the Maoists opened fire on the security personnel who immediately retaliated. During the night-long crossfire, five Maoists, including a woman cadre, were killed. The security personnel this morning busted a Maoist camp and seized two Insas rifles, one self-loading rifle (SLR) and a 303 rifle,” Koche said.
He further said that those killed belong to Kalimela Dalam led by their leader Ranadeb, who managed to escape unhurt.
Stating that the exchange of fire was still on, the ADG said following the incident, a high alert has been sounded in the border area of Malkangiri district with the deployment of additional BSF and SOG personnel to keep a strict vigil on Maoists, who may try to sneak into Andhra Pradesh.
“Besides, more SOG personnel have been sent to Papluru to join the anti-Maoist operation. Since the Maoists are hiding in Papluru area, efforts are on to cordon off the entire area to track them down,” he added.
In a statement to the media, Director General of Police (DGP) RP Sharma said this was the most remarkable achievement of the State Police. “I think, this is so far the best operation of the Odisha Police against the Left-wing extremists,” he pointed out.
Sharma further said that the search operation in the area will continue to track down the Maoists.
Meanwhile, of the five cadre Maoists of the Kalimela Dalam of killed in the encounter, three of them have been identified as Unga Sodhi and Mase Madhi alias Sunni of Rajelkonda village under Kalimela police limits in Malkangiri district and Seema Kendruka alias Rupri alias Sushila of Balipeta village under Narayanpatna police limits in Koraput district.
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