New Delhi, October 24, 2016
In an encounter with a joint team of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha police, 24 members of the banned CPI (Maoist), including eight women cadres, were killed near Jantri in Panasput block of Malkangiri district in Odisha on Monday morning.
According to media reports Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra confirmed the death of 24 Maoists during the joint operation. State Police Director General BK Singh told media that a few top Maoist leaders including Uday, Chalapati and Ganesh were among the dead naxalites.
Out of the two critically injured police personnel in the encounter, one succumbed to his injuries at a Hospital in Visakhapatnam during treatment. The bodies of the Maoists were being air lifted to hospital for post mortem. The joint operation was launched by Greyhound force of Andhra Pradesh and Special Operations Group and District Voluntary Force of Odisha.
Police said, acting on the tip-off about the presence of 50 to 60 ultras in the area, they attacked a Maoist camp located around 10 kilometres from Malkangiri district HQs. A lot of ammunition and weapons, including 4 AK-47, 3 SLR and ten 303 rifles were recovered from the encounter site. The district police said, search and combing operations which started last night are still going on in the area. They said, extra force is being sent to the area to intensify the combing operation.
Malkangiri is one of the areas severely affected by Maoist activities. Since the past one year, the strength of Maoists and their support base in Malkangiri has been decreasing due to surrender of hundreds of Maoist supporters including militias.