At least three Maoists were gunned down by the Odisha Police following an exchange of fire with security personnel in Kalahandi district. A senior police officer who was injured in the operation is said to be out of danger. Official sources said an operation was launched by a team of the Special Intelligence Wing (SIW), a specialised anti-Maoist wing, in Taparanga Reserve Forest under M Rampur police station limits based on a specific intelligence input regarding the presence of armed Maoist cadres in the area and their plan to carry out subversive attacks. “While the team was conducting a search operation in the area, they came under indiscriminate firing from Maoists. The SIW team retaliated in self-defence in a controlled and restrained manner. In this exchange of fire, one Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) rank officer sustained a bullet injury and three Maoists were neutralised,” said a statement issued by Odisha Police. An AK-47 rifle was recovered from the spot along with other weapons, ammunition and incriminating Maoist articles, said the statement. DGP Sunil Kumar Bansal said though they recovered the bodies of the deceased Maoists, their identity is yet to be ascertained. “Since one AK-47 has been seized from them, it seems that they were seniors in the Maoist organisation,” he said, adding that the injured police officer is out of danger. He also appealed to the Maoists to shun violence and join the mainstream. While more security personnel have been sent to the area for search operations in the vicinity apprehending the presence of other Maoist cadres, the injured officer was airlifted to Bhubaneswar for better treatment, said a senior police officer. After the Maoist ambush in neighbouring Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district which claimed the lives of 10 District Reserve Guard personnel and a civilian on April 26, the Odisha Police sounded high alert along districts like Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Koraput, Nuapada and Bargarh, which share a border with Chhattisgarh, to check the ingress of Maoists. The SPs of these districts were also asked to intensify area domination operations.
