Bhubaneswar: The killing of three Maoists during an encounter with the Special Operation Group (SOG) commandos at Aampani ghat in the Kalahandi police district on Saturday is the big success of the Odisha Police against the left wing ultras this year, said Director General of Police (DGP), KB Singh on Sunday.
Giving details of the encounter to the media persons at his camp office in the city here, Singh said there was an exchange of fire in Sahaskhol reserve forest area at Aampani ghat in the Kalahandi police district between the Special Operation Group (SOG) commandos and the CPI-Maoist ultras on Saturday evening.
In the exchange of fire, three lady Maoist cadre were neutralised. The SOG commandos later seized two .303 rifles, one 9mm pistol, one 12-bore gun, 50 rounds of live ammunition, three kit bags and other camp articles. The three deceased lady Maoist cadre were in uniform and appear to be from Chhattisgarh. Efforts are on to identify them, he added.
Terming this encounter as the big success of the Odisha police this year, Singh said there have been a total of nine encounters with the Maoists this year in which four Maoists have been killed while police has destroyed three camps.
Talking about the strategy of the State Police to counter left wing extremism, he said considering the spurt in the activists of the Maoists in the areas bordering Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, operations would be intensified in these areas very soon.
Present at the press meet, Special Director and ADG (Intelligence), Arun Kumar Sarangi said of the listed Maoist cadre, 15 percent cadres are in Odisha, 55 percent in Chhattisgarh, 15 percent in Andhra Pradesh and the remaining 15 percent are in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
“As per the strategy, the Maoists, whose breeding ground is the Dandakaranya forest, have decided to spread out to neighbouring states so that the pressure on the Dandakaranya would be less as their number would be around 1000. Since the Chhattisgarh cadre Maoists belong to Dandakaranya which is nearer to Odisha, the Maoist cadre from this area are now operating in Odisha,” Sarangi informed.