At least five Maoist cadres were on Wednesday killed in an encounter with the Orissa police at Bhaliaguda under Gobindpur gram panchayat in Gajpati district, 350 km from here.
However, Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, who masterminded the kidnapping of Italian nationals Basusco Paolo and Claudio Colangelo early this year, managed escape the police action.
The encounter took place at around 10.30 am in the jungle on the borders Gajapati and Ganjam district.
The police has seized huge cache of arms and explosives from the battle spot. A Maoist activist was captured after the encounter in which two security personnel were also injured in Bhaliagada jungle under Mohana police station.
“Five Maoists were killed in the exchange of fire that took place after the ultras fired at a combing team and forced the jawans to retaliate in self defence,” state director-general of police Prakash Mishra told reporters here. A joint team of SOG and district voluntary forces of Ganjam and Gajapati was conducting a combing operation.
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Maoists loot groceries meant for children
Rabindra Nath Choudhury
Raipur, Nov. 14
Naxals on Wednesday looted groceries being transported to tribal residential schools in Bacheli area in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district on the pretext that they were meant for CRPF jawans deployed in the locality, the police said.
Around 25-30 armed rebels intercepted a truck carrying food materials including vegetables for tribal residential schools in Palnar area under Bacheli and looted the goods, despite the pleadings by the driver of the vehicle that they were meant for the school children. Later, the ultras took the truck to the nearby jungle and set it on fire before fleeing the area, SHO of Kirandul police station P.C. Ray said. The Maoists let off the driver with a warning not to carry food materials to CRPF camps in his vehicle in future.
“The food materials were being transported to residential tribal schools in the locality not the CRPF camps,” Mr Ray added.
In another incident, ultras opened fire at the police station at Jhara and lobbed hand grenades targeting the jawans taking shelter in it late on Tuesday night.
The policemen, however, soon took position and retaliated, forcing the rebels to retreat.