Bhawanipatna, May 9: At least three Maoists were killed and a policeman was injured during a gunbattle in a forest in Odisha's Kalahandi district on Tuesday, a top official said. He said the incident occurred in the morning when a combing operation was underway near Tapareng-Ludengarh reserve forest.

“Three Maoists have been killed a DSP rank officer has suffered injuries in the exchange of fire,” DGP Sunil K Bansal told PTI. The policeman, who suffered bullet injuries in the leg, was rushed to Bhima Bhoi Medical College & Hospital in Bolangir, he said. Five Top Naxals Surrender Before Security Forces in Jharkhand.

The injured officer is out of danger and he is being brought to Bhubaneswar for better treatment, Bansal said. The combing operation is still underway in the forest areas along the border of Kalahandi-Kandhamal districts, the DGP said, adding, one AK-47 rifle was also recovered from the encounter site, indicating that the deceased could include an Area Committee Member (ACM) of the outlawed CPI (Maoist). Chhattisgarh: Two Naxalites Including Woman Killed in Encounter With Police in Sukma.

The Maoists have been observing a week-long mass outreach programme ‘Jana Adhikar Abhijan' from May 8, and the operation was launched in view of the campaign, police said. The Odisha Police has sounded an alert in bordering areas of the state following Tuesday's incident. In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, 10 District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans and a civilian driver were killed on April 26 in a Naxal attack in Dantewada area.