Police kill woman Maoist in encounter in Orissa

Orissa Police killed a woman Maoist in an encounter in Balimela area in Malkangiri district.

Orissa Police on Sunday killed a woman Maoist in an encounter in Balimela area in Malkangiri district,the first killing of a rebel in the district since collector Vineel Krishna was abducted,and later released,nearly two months ago.

A team of the polices anti-Naxal Special Operation Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force,which is made up of former SOG men,attacked a Maoist hideout in a forest Sunday morning,Deputy Inspector General of Police S K Priyadarshi said.

Following a gun battle,the Maoists retreated,leaving the body of a woman rebel behind, Priyadarshi said. Naxals seem to have suffered massive injuries in the hail of gunfire by the police…. This is an achievement for us as we could attack the Maoists in their own den.

The forest area,which falls under Chitrakonda panchayat of the district,is virtually run by a group of Naxalites led by Comrade Sukhdev,police said.

The police claimed to have recovered three guns, including a .303 rifles,several hand-grenades,claymore mines,a DVD player,tape-recorders,and several Maoist uniforms from the hideout.

Meanwhile,the three interlocutors Prof G Hargopal,Prof R S Rao and Dandapani Mohanty who had mediated the release of the collector from the custody of Maoists in February,have asked chief minister Naveen Patnaik to honour the agreement between them and the state government.

In a letter to Patnaik,they have demanded immediate release of 600 tribals held by the police and halt to coercive action against the rebels.

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It is six weeks since the agreement was reached,but no serious step has been taken. On the contrary,there were several instances which go against the very spirit of the agreement, the interlocutors letter said.