Encounter with Maoists, high alert sounded

Encounter with Maoists, high alert sounded
Wednesday December 27 2006 11:44 IST

BARIPADA: Police on Tuesday sounded a “high alert” in areas of Mayurbhanj district bordering Jharkhand and West Bengal after an encounter with Maoists on Monday.

Police said the Special Operations Group (SOG), engaged in combing operation, had an hour-long encounter with five Maoist rebels at Ghatiduba in Sarisapal gram panchayat, about 55 km from here.

The SOG team, especially trained in anti-Naxal strategies, launched the combing operation after receiving a tip-off that the Maoist rebels, in their uniforms, were moving in and around the village.

Mayurbhanj SP Ravi Kant said the Maoist activists fired first at the force which fired back. He said at least two Maoist rebels had been injured in the encounter.

The Maoists, however, taking advantage of darkness disappeared into the dense cover, taking the two injured companions with them.

The SP said the combing operations had been intensified and the Central Reserve Police Force, Armed Police Reserve and the Orissa State Armed Police had joined the SOG in the operations.

Kant, who rushed to the spot, said some incriminating documents had been seized by the force from the place of encounter. These included a container of explosives, kit bags containing Maoist literatures in Hindi and Bengali, VHF wireless mode equipment and magnetic compass.

Meanwhile, wildlife lovers have expressed apprehensions that the Maoists might sneak into the Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) and make it their hub.

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