Odisha cops gun down 14 Maoists behind ambush on Congress leaders

In a fierce exchange of fire, security forces killed at least 14 Maoists in the Malkangiri district of Odisha  in the early hours of Saturday. The killed Maoists are suspected to have been involved in the Chhattisgarh Darva Operation wherein they massacred 29 senior Congress leaders, including former chief minister Vidya Charan Sukla, Mahendra Karma and PCC president Nanda Kumar Patel.

The encounter by by District Voluntary Forces and Special Operation Group took place in a forest near Padia on the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, about 709 km from here.

After the operation, Director General of Odisha Police Prakash Mishra issued a strong warning to Maoists of the neighbouring state not to cross over to Odisha.
He also said that nearly two dozens of high power guns and rifles, including an AK-47, were recovered with huge quantity of ammunitions from the encounter area.

Speaking to the media, deputy inspector-general (DIG) of police, south-west range, Devadutta Singh said the encounter took place inside Salaikota forest under Padia police station limits.

DGP Prakash Mishra said, “After receiving concrete information of about twenty Maoists camping in the jungle, security forces entered the forest area Friday evening. And early in the morning today (Saturday), the police stumbled upon this major camp of Maoists in the Saliakota forest. The police retaliated when the Maoists fired at them leading to death of 14 Maoists, including a woman and a child. The police also arrested another Maoist from the area. Till now there have been no reports of any injury or casualty from the police side.”