Maoists kill three jawans in Orissa

Maoist guerrillas launched a sudden attack on a police combing party in a forest of Gajapati district on Tuesday night.

Written by Debabrata Mohanty

Bhubaneswar | March 24, 2010 09:11 AM IST

3 min read

Three policemen including two jawans of Special Operation Group were shot dead and another four critically injured in a forest of Gajapati district when Maoist guerrillas launched a sudden attack on a police combing party on Tuesday night.

The Maoists who were probably lying in wait for the police party at Ambajiri forest in Guma block of Gajapati district,opened fire on the 30-member strong police party killing three policemen instantly. Among the dead are Sanjit Tirkey of District Voluntary Force,Deepak Sanbhoi and Balram Pradhan of SOG,the elite anti-Maoist force of Orissa police.

Inspector general of police(anti-Maoist operations) Sanjiv Marik said the police party had gone to raid a rebel camp in the Ambajiri forest following a tip-off at about 12 in the night. A fierce gunfight between the cops and the Maoist ensued for almost 3 hours hich left 4 policemen seriously injured and 10 others with less-serious injuries. The seriously injured jawans have been sent to a hospital in Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. There are no reports on the Maoist casualties.

The Maoists also blew off 3 mobile towers in Birikot village of Gajapati’s Mohana block.

Last night the Maoists also attacked and ransacked the guest house of the Essar Steel in Malkangiri district of south Orissa. According to local police,a group of 200 Maoist supporters attacked the guest house at Chitrakonda which was meant for official of the company monitoring the iron ore slurry booster pumping station in the area. They also torched two vehicles of the company.

The Maoists last evening critically injured a special police officer(SPO),part of the tribal force raised to assist the Orissa police in fighting the Maoists in Naxal areas and a village headman in Malkangiri. A group of about 10 armed Maoists swooped down upon Maribada village in Malkangiri around 4.30 pm and fired at the SPO Basudev Khillo. As it was a crowded place,the village headman Sama Pujari,was also injured. The condition of the SPO is critical as he has received bullets in his chest. Both of them are battling for their lives.

The SPO was on leave and was attending a puja in his village. Believing that the SPO has died,the Maoists left the village. A massive combing operation has been launched.

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