Malkangiri: Twelve Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces near Pidia village under Gangaloor police limits of Bijapur district of neighbouring Chhattisgarh on Friday, reports said.
Also, two jawans of the security forces have been injured in the gunfight, reports added.
A search operation by jawans of the 210 Battalion of DRG COBRA of Dantewada, STF and other security personnel from Sukma Bijapur is underway.
Large quantities of explosives and arms have been seized following the gunfight.
Sukma SP Kiran Chauhan, Bijapur SP Jitendra Kumar Yadav and Dantewada SP Gourav Rai are in contact with the security personnel at the encounter site.
With this encounter, the number of Maoists killed this year has crossed 100.
Till April-end, 91 Maoists had been killed by security forces; the figure has now gone up to 103 – the highest since 2019.