Bhubaneswar: At least two personnel of Odisha Police's elite Special Operation Group (SOG) were on Saturday injured in an ongoing gun-battle with Maoists in forests bordering Boudh and Kandhamal districts, Director General of Police Abhay said. The condition of both the personnel is stable and they were air-lifted to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, the DGP, who accompanied the injured police personnel in the chopper, said. The gun-battle broke out in Uma forest along the Boudh-Kandhamal district border early in the morning when security forces launched a combing operation in the area based on specific information, IG (Operation) Amitav Thakur said.
"During the search operation, members of CPI (Maoist) opened fire on security forces, in which two SOG commandos sustained bullet injuries," the DGP said, adding there is also information about injuries to the red rebels in the encounter. The DGP, who was on a tour to Malkangiri and Koraput districts to review anti-LWE (Left-wing extremist) activities, cut short his programme at Sunabeda in Koraput and rushed to Padelpada in Boudh.
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Abhay said he accompanied the injured police personnel along with a doctor in the chopper to Bhubaneswar. The DGP thanked the CRPF for rushing some of its troops to the encounter site, and the BSF pilot who flew the chopper despite inclement weather.
Input from agencies
