Big catch for Orissa cops: 9 Maoists killed

In their single-biggest success against Maoists so far,the Orissa Police on Sunday morning shot dead nine rebels,including a senior commander,in the forests of Rayagada district.

In their single-biggest success against Maoists so far,the Orissa Police on Sunday morning shot dead nine rebels,including a senior commander,in the forests of Rayagada district. Based on intelligence inputs,the district voluntary force and D-CAT,a special team of Rayagada police,raided the Maoist camp located at the foothills near Dabramali village on the Kashipur-Kalyasinghpur area of the district. Deputy Inspector General of Police (South-Western) Soumendra Priyadarshi said the Maoists first started firing,after which the police retaliated.

The firing lasted for a little more than an hour. When dawn broke,we found nine bodies scattered around the camp of which one was that of Ravi,the leader of

Kashipur dalam of Basdhara division. There were four women Maoists among the dead, said Priyadarshi. All the deceased Maoists are in the age group of 20-25.

The police said about 15 Maoists were in the camp when the encounter happened. We expect two more casualties,as there were signs of bodies being dragged away, a senior police official said.

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The police claimed to have recovered an INSAS rifle,two .303 rifles and some country-made guns from the camp.

Meanwhile,train services in the Chakradharpur-Rourkela and Rourkela-Hatia sections of South Eastern Railway (SER) were disrupted after suspected Maoists triggered a blast at the signalling and link cabins near Bondamunda station of Rourkela on Saturday night. The blast completely damaged the signalling panels and other vital telecommunication equipment,South-Eastern Railway officials said. Following the disruption,Howrah-Mumbai Gitanjali Express and the Howrah-Chennai Coromandal Express leaving Howrah station were rescheduled. The train services on the sections were resumed in the morning after the security personnel gave clearance.

In another Maoist-related incident,the police in Kandhamal recovered a few firearms and a detonator after a fierce encounter with a group of Naxalites,led by Azad of Basdhara divisional committee in Kotgarh area. There were no reports of casualty from either side.

The Maoists have called a bandh in Kandhamal,Gajapati and Rayagada district on Monday protesting Operation Greenhunt.