One police constable was injured in a major exchange of fire between police and Maoists in Mallepallithogu forest area of Karakagudem mandal on Wednesday morning.
As many as ten Maoists, who were believed to have sneaked into the district after crossing Godavari river from the forests spanning along the inter-State border with Chhattisgarh, escaped from the encounter site, police sources said.
Acting on a tip off about the movement of armed rebels in Mallepallithogu forest area, a large posse of about 500 policemen, split into 25 teams, launched a combing operation in the forest region in the early hours of the day.
The gun battle broke out when a police party came under fire from the rebels on the fringes of forest near Mallepallithogu at about 9 a.m.
The police returned the fire following which the armed ultras retreated into the forests amid heavy rain, leaving some kit bags and other belongings at the scene of encounter, police said.
A constable of the special police party sustained a bullet injury on his right elbow during the exchange of fire. He was immediately rushed to the Government Area Hospital in Bhadrachalam.
A massive manhunt was launched by the police by deploying additional forces to scour the entire forest area in Karakagudem mandal to track down the escaped rebels.
Police suspect that some senior Maoists cadres were among those who escaped from the encounter and that the rebels were moving in the forest areas in Karakagudem, once the bastion of the then PWG naxals, to revive their activities.
Search has been intensified in the Mallepallithogu forest area in Manuguru subdivision following the exchange of fire to nab the Maoists who fled from the encounter site, said Kothagudem Superintendent of Police Sunil Dutt.
The injured constable has been shifted to Hyderabad for better medical care and he is out of danger.
