Five Maoists including three female cadres were killed during an exchange of fire with security personnel in Odisha’s Koraput district on Wednesday afternoon.
According to Koraput Superintendent of Police (SP) Kanwar Vishal Singh, the encounter took place in the hilly jungle terrain of Kituba area under Padua police station limits at around 2.45 pm. Based on intelligence reports of a congregation of Maoist cadres in the region, an operation had been launched on Wednesday morning.
One of the maoists killed in encounter is apparently an accused in MLA Kidari killling case
Four teams of Special Operation Group and one team of District Voluntary Force of Koraput were involved in this operation. Security personnel were able to locate the Maoists, which led to the exchange of fire that lasted around 30 minutes. During this exchange of fire, three female and two male armed cadres of outlawed CPI (Maoist) organization were killed. Their uniformed bodies were recovered from the spot.
Two INSAS rifles and two self-loading rifles were recovered from the possession of the killed Maoists. During the search operation in the area, several other articles of Maoist camp like kit bags, battery charger, solar panels and other goods were seized.
Combing operation has been intensified in the area following this exchange of fire to track down other Maoists, who are suspected to have escaped from the spot.
Efforts are on to ascertain the identity of the Maoists. “They were members of Nandapur area committee of the Koraput division,of Maoists,” said the SP.
