New Delhi:
Five Maoists, including three women, were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Padua Forest area of Koraput District in Odisha near Andhra Pradesh border, said superintendent of police (Koraput) Kanwar Vishal Singh. The encounter took place in a forest under Padua police station limits on Wednesday morning when personnel of the Special Operations Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force (DVF) were conducting a combing operation in the area.
The Maoists fired at the SOG and DVF men after noticing them and the security personnel retaliated the fire, killing them, the official said. "Of the five Maoists killed in the encounter, three were women," the ADGP (operations) RP Koche said.
The security forces began the combing operation following a tip-off that around 15 Maoists were hiding in the forest, officials said. Koraput SP KV Singh said the security personnel recovered five guns from the spot.
