21 Maoists killed on Andhra border
- The face-off between the security personnel and the outlaws lasted for about an hour.
- Police suspect that a top Maoist leader and son of another high ranking cadre might be among those killed in the encounter.
Twenty-one Maoists were gunned down in an exchange of fire with the Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha Police in Malkangiri forest area on the AP-Odisha border in the wee hours today, a top police official said.
  Â
Police suspect that a top Maoist leader and son of another high ranking cadre might be among those killed in the encounter.
  Â
AP Director General of Police, Nanduri Sambasiva Rao who left for Visakhapatnam immediately upon receiving news of the encounter, confirmed the Naxal casualties to PTI.
   Â
According to AP Police, two constables of Greyhounds, an elite anti-Maoist force, were also injured in the encounter that occurred during a routine combing operation being jointly carried out by police of both the states at Ramgurha in Malkangiri district of Odisha.
   Â
The face-off between the security personnel and the outlaws lasted for about an hour.
  Â
The injured constables were shifted for treatment to the King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam by helicopter, the police official added.
    Â
Police have recovered four AK-47 rifles from the scene of the encounter, where a Maoist den was also found.
 Â
  Â
The DGP said combing operation was still continuing as there was information that there were some more Maoists roaming in the region.Â