Special Operation Group (SOG) jawans on Monday killed a woman Maoist during an encounter with the ultras in the Sunabeda sanctuary in Nuapada district.
According to Nuapada SP Uma Shankar Das, the Maoists opened fire at the SOG jawans and the district police who were on a routine combing operation in the area in the morning. The security personnel retaliated, and in the exchange of fire a woman Maoist was killed. The Maoists later fled the area leaving the body of the slain woman behind, he added.
A gun, live cartridges and other ammunitions were seized from the spot by the security personnel. Identity of the woman Maoist was yet to be ascertained. The police suspected more casualties on the side of the red rebels. “The combing operation has been intensified further to track down the ultras,”
said Das.
Similarly, a Maoist was shot dead by security personnel in an encounter near the Forest Range Office in Narayanpatna of Koraput district on Sunday night.
The slain Maoist was identified as Purno Ulluka of Basanaput village under the Narayanpatna police limits and was an active member of the Koraput-Srikakulam division of the outlawed CPI-Maoist. The encounter took place when a group of 12 to 15 Maoists were found to be moving towards the venue of Thakurani Yatra which was being celebrated in Narayanpatna, allegedly to punish some local leaders who were instrumental in encouraging people to vote in large numbers in defiance of the Maoists’ call for poll
boycott.
The police intercepted the group near the local Forest range office, following which there was an exchange of fire. Purno was shot dead while the rest managed to flee the area, police sources said.