24 Maoists Killed Along AP-Odisha Border

In a deadly and fierce encounter along the Andhra Pradesh - Odisha Border zone near the Malkangiri district, the State and Central police forces ambushed around 24 maoists - Appa Rao alias Chalapathi, the East Division Secretary of the CPI (Maoist); his wife and Maoist leader, Aruna; Gajraula Ashok alias Uday, the military head of the AOB zone; Munna, the son of top CPI (Maoist) leader and its central committee member Ramakrishna alias R K - "wiping out" the maoist leadership that had taken a strong foothold in the zone.

However, it is believed that R K has managed to escape.

The bodies of the slain maoists were airlifted to Malkangiri via a helicopter.

As per reports, the encounter took place when a splinter group of the AP Police, Odisha police and Central forces conducted a combing operation in the forests of Jantri. The teams conducted a reconnaissance along with former Maoists to locate and tag the armed insurgents.

Apart from the naxals, two officers of the AP Police's Greyhounds unit on ground were grievously injured in the exchange of fire. They were airlifted to the King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam. Among the two, senior Greyhound commando Abubakar succumbed to his injuries while being treated.

The police recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including three AK-47s and high-grade explosives, were seized from the area. They also recovered Rs. 2.16 lakhs in cash from the dump.

The militant group's leader Ramakrishna was also present during the encounter as they were holding a plenary. The agenda of the meeting was to strengthen the Party in all Deccan states.

The encounter is still on.