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Malkangiri Encounter Update: 27 Maoists Eliminated, Top Commander Ramakrishna Escapes
Arms seized from Maoists are displayed at the Malkangiri district police headquarters. Photo credit: STR/AFP/GettyImages<b></b>
As many as 27 Maoists were killed by security forces in a gun battle which also left a commando dead near the Andhra-Odisha border on Monday. Fresh encounters were reported between the two sides earlier today.
Those killed by the police belonged to the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist. Top Maoist cadre Ramakrishna alias RK is said to have managed to escape the fighting. Ramakrishna's son Munna is believed to be among the slain Maoists. Munna recently joined the CPI-Maoist. The dead also believed to include some other top leaders of the Maoist outfit from Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, talking to The Hindu, said that the death toll may rise as the search operation was still on and several other injured Maoists had escaped into the dense jungle. He said the police asked the Maoists to surrender but they opened fire, forcing the police to retaliate. The officer confirmed that 10 .303 rifles, two SLRs and four AK-47 guns and some Maoist kits were seized from the spot.
The operation is said to have dealt a huge blow to the Maoist outfit, which has weakened over the last decade and is now confined to Andhra-Odisha and Telangana-Chhattisgarh border areas.
Meanwhile, left-leaning poet Varavara Rao has alleged that police killed the Maoists after attacking their meeting and demanded that a murder case be filed against the policemen involved in the attack.
With inputs from IANS.
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