At least five Maoists, including two women cadres, were killed in an exchange of fire with security personnel inside the Bejingiwada reserve forest near Sanyasiguda village under Kalimela police station of Odisha’s Malkangiri district in the early hours of Monday.
The site of the encounter is barely 2 km from East Godavari district in adjoining Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking to The Hindu , Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Jagmohan Meena said that based on intelligence reports on the presence of a Maoist camp in the region, two groups of commandos of the Special Operation Group (SOG) launched an operation on Sunday evening.
It was believed that Maoist leader Randev alias Deba Madhi, who heads the Kalimela Dalam of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), was present at the spot, along with some key Maoists from Malkangiri district.
According to sources, Randev managed to escape from the spot.
‘Biggest operation’
Odisha Director General of Police R.P. Sharma said this was the biggest operation against Maoists in Odisha in the past three years. He said the bodies of five Maoists and arms and ammunition were recovered from the spot of encounter. All those killed were in Maoist uniforms.
According to Mr. Sharma, two self loading rifles (SLR), one INSAS rifle, one .303 rifle, one grenade, ammunition as well as backpacks and other materials were seized from the site of the shootout.
