Fierce gunbattle between Maoists and security forces

Acting on a tip-off that nearly 40 to 50 Naxals have assembled in the forest,jawans of the Special Operation Group (SOG) and Greyhound of Andhra Pradesh yesterday evening raided forests in Gumandi area under Narayanpatna police station of Koraput district. Though the gun battle had stopped soon after,it resumed again today.

Police say they have found some 12 kit bags and seen marks of the Naxals’ bodies dragged away,which indicate heavy casualties. “However,we have not recovered any bodies of the Maoists so far,” director of police intelligence,Prakash Mishra said. Police officials indicated that more than half a dozen Maoists could have been killed in the exchange of fire.

Police recovered a powerful claymore mine planted by the rebels.

Meanwhile,high alert has been sounded in Koraput following the exchange of fire between the police and Naxals.

The gunbattle took place a day after a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) DG Vikram Srivastava met state chief minister Naveen Patnaik and other senior police officials to discuss force deployment in the Maoist-affected areas.

The fear of Maoist has disrupted tiger census in Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary in Nuapada district as well as Keonjhar district. Orissa chief wildlife warden PN Padhi said a section of junior forest officials have boycotted tiger census in Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary and Keonjhar forest division. The forest officials boycotted the census after foerster Sangram Swain was shot dead by the Maoists inside Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary last month.

As per the 2004 census,Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary had 32 tigers. General secretary of Orissa non-gazetted Forest Service Association J B Patnaik said the junior forests officials can not risk their lives for tiger census.