Malkangiri: After a long gap, heavy exchange fire ensued between the police and the Maoists in the cut-off area of Chitrakonda Block in Odisha’s Malkangiri district in the morning on Monday.
Talking about the incident, Malkangiri SP Jagmohan Meena said a team of jawans of the District Voluntary Force (DVF) and Special Operation Group (SOG) along with the Greyhound Police of the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh had gone to the cut-off areas of Chitrakonda for a joint search operation following a tip-off that some top cadre Maoists have camped inside the forest and are planning for a major attack on the security personnel.
During the search operation inside the forest near Tikarpadu of Jodamba Panchayat, the Maoists suddenly opened fire at the security personnel who retaliated immediately. However, after an hour-long crossfire, the ultras managed to escape.
The security personnel later recovered two steel carriage with mines, 45 kit bags, two muzzle loaded single barrel weapons, two INSAS rounds, six AK fire ammunitions: six rounds of.303 live ammunition, one empty magazine, three wire bundles each having 300 metres of length, one gas cutter, seven pairs of new olive green uniforms, six steel carriages, one 9 mm magazine, four 9 mm carbine rounds, 16 detonators and one explosive slurry from the camp.
The SP further said since the exchange of fire was from a short range, there is a possibility that some of the cadre Maoists might have been killed or injured.“Combing operation has been intensified in the area following the incident to track down the ultras,” he added.
This was the second major exchange of fire between the security personnel and the Maoists in Malkangiri district after nearly 16 months in which 24 cadre Maoists were gunned down during an encounter with the Greyhound police and the Odisha Police inside the Bejjangi forest area, about 10 km from the Andhra border on October 24, 2016.
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