Bhubaneswar/ New Delhi: An outlawed Maoist carrying Rs 1 crore bounty on his head was among 14 extremists killed in an encounter during a joint action launched by Odisha Police Special Operation Group (SOG), CoBRA from Chhattisgarh Police and CRPF in Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district neighbouring Nuapada district in Odisha on Tuesday morning.
According to Chhattisgarh officials, Jayram alias Chalapathi, a member of the Maoists’ Central Committee, was killed in the exchange of fire that took place late Monday night and early Tuesday in a forest along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border.
The operation was launched based on intelligence about the presence of Maoists in the Kularighat reserve forest of Chhattisgarh, just five kilometres from the border of Odisha’s Nuapada district.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah called the encounter “another mighty blow to Naxalism”. “Our security forces achieved major success towards building a Naxal-free Bharat. The CRPF, SoG Odisha, and Chhattisgarh Police neutralised 14 Naxalites in a joint operation along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border,” he posted on X.
