Bhawanipatna: Two SOG jawans were killed in action while one maoist was gunned down in an exchange of fire between security forces and Maoists Wednesday in a forest near Sirki village under Belghar police limits of Kandhamal district.
The two jawans have been identified as Sudhir Kumar Tudu and Debasish Sethy.
Notably, acting on a tip-off, the Special Operations Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force (DVF) had launched a combing operation on the border areas of Kalahandi and Kandhamal districts, September 8. Wednesday they stumbled upon the Maoist camp following which the shootout began.
Four Maoists were killed September 9 in an encounter with security personnel in Kandhamal district, a senior police officer said.
However, the combing operation was still underway following which another gunfight took place between other Maoists in the jungle and security personnel. Following this, another Maoist was killed. With this, a total of five rebels were killed in the ongoing encounter.
While four bodies were found from the forest after the gunfight, the body of another Maoist, a female, was recovered during the combing operation, Kalahandi’s Superintendent of Police B Gangadhar said.
Six weapons were recovered from the site and reports of more recoveries are expected as the teams are yet to return to the base camp, he said.
PNN