Bhubaneswar: At least 14 outlawed Maoists were killed in a joint operation launched by Odisha and Chhattisgarh Police and CRPF personnel in the border areas of Nuapada district of Odisha and Gariabandh district of Chhattisgarh in the early hours of Tuesday.
Two women Maoist cadres (women) were neutralised in the operation on Monday and a large cache of arms, ammunition and IEDs including one SLR have been recovered by the security forces, says an Odisha Police report.
Aside from these two Maoist women, 12 more Red rebels were killed during an exchange of fire with the Special Operation Group (SOG) team during the joint inter-state operation on Tuesday early morning.
While the number of Maoist casualties may increase, the security forces seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition the encounter. A massive search operation is underway by the police in the area. It is suspected that top Maoist leaders may be among the deceased or injured.
It may be recalled that since the night of January 19, there were intelligence inputs about the presence of a large number of Maoists in the Kularighat reserve forest of Chhattisgarh, just 5 km from the border of Nuapada district of Odisha. Accordingly, a joint interstate operation comprising SOG (Odisha Police), along with E-30 force of Chhattisgarh Police and CRPF was launched.
In 2024, 6 Maoists were killed, 8 were arrested and 24 Maoists have surrendered. In 2025, till date, 14 Maoists have been killed in joint interstate operations with Chhattisgarh Police and CAPF.
