Malkangiri, June 13: Odisha Police on Friday arrested two dreaded cadres of the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist), each carrying a reward of Rs 3 lakh on their heads, an official said.

The arrests took place in the Mathili area of Malkangiri district during the early hours of Friday.

The arrested Maoist ultras were identified as Kesa Kawasi of Darba police limits in Bastar district and Sanu Kunjam alias Rakesh, (ACM, AOB military platoon section-01) of Ganglur police station area in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.

Kesa is the Area Committee Member (ACM) of Kanger Ghati Area Committee of Bastar region while Rakesh works as the ACM in Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) Military platoon Section-01 of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit.

“Based on credible intelligence regarding the movement of a group of banned CPI (Maoist) cadres in the forest area near villages Sodiguda and Tentuliguda under Mathili Police Station, a special operation was launched by Malkangiri District Police on the intervening night of June 12 and 13,” the Malkangiri police said in a press note on Friday.

The police personnel during the early hours on Friday noticed a group of Maoists were fleeing into the jungle.

The police chased the ultras, warning them to surrender.

Meanwhile, the Maoists opened fire at the police team in a bid to escape by fleeing into the jungle.

“In response, the police team exercised controlled fire in self-defence. During the subsequent area search, the two above noted Maoist cadres were apprehended successfully after a tussle while attempting to hide in the nearby bushes while others managed to escape into the jungle,” the Malkangiri police statement read.

The police have also seized one Pistol, six rounds of ammunition, ten Electric Detonators, ten Codex wire, Gun Powder, Motorola Walkie-Talkie, Maoist literature, etc.

During questioning, the ultras confessed to police about their involvement in many incidents of Exchange of Fire, ambush on security forces and other Maoist activities in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh area.

Police are verifying the information elicited during the interrogation. The CPI(Maoist) cadre Rakesh was involved in the aerial ambush by the Maoists in February 2017 in which two security personnel were killed.

He further confessed his role in the 2018 Maoist assault at Boilathila, which resulted in the death of five security personnel. Both Rakesh and Kesa were involved in the attack on Dharmavaram CRPF Camp by over 400 armed Maoists on January 16,2024.

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