Odisha: Elite special ops team guns down two women Maoists

Police officials said the encounter, which lasted about half an hour, took place in a forest close to Jal Mahadev Temple under Khaprakhol police station area

Updated on: Nov 24, 2022, 21:14:03 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Two women Maoists from Chhattisgarh, carrying a bounty of ₹4 lakh, were killed in an encounter with Odisha’s elite anti-Maoist force ‘Special Operations Group’ in Gandhamardhan hills of Balangir district on Thursday.

Alert security forces in a Maoist stronghold. (Subhankar Chakraborty/ HT File Photo)

Police officials said the encounter, which lasted about half an hour, took place in a forest close to Jal Mahadev Temple under Khaprakhol police station area when a combing operation was being carried out by the team based on specific intelligence.

“After the operation ended, we found bodies of two female Maoists in uniform and 2 INSAS rifles were recovered from the area. Both of them are of area committee member rank and hail from Chhattisgarh. They belong to Balangir – Bargarh – Mahasamud division of Maoists,” DGP Sunil Bansal said.

Police said combing operations have been intensified in the area. Last week, two Maoist militia were killed in an encounter in Boipariguda forests of Koraput district. However, local people contested the police’s claims, alleging that they were smalltime marijuana traders who were killed in a ‘fake’ encounter.

Meanwhile, the police in Malkangiri district recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives, tiffin bombs, communication sets, Maoist materials and an EVM dump near Dhakarpadar village under Mathili police station.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More