By Our Correspondent
Malkangiri January 5, 2015

Andhra Pradesh and Odisha police on Sunday night launched a joint offensive against the Maoists rebels in the cut off areas along the Chitrakonda reservoir, nearly 150 KM from here.

Inspector general (IG) of police Yashwant Singh Jethwa said that the Boarder Security Force [BSF], elite Greyhound force of Andhra Pradesh police, Special Operations Group (SOG) of Odisha police and the District Voluntary Force, began a joint combing operation on Sunday night following intelligence information that the Maoists were running training camps at Vejingi and Panasput in the cut-off areas along the Chitrakonda reservoir last evening.

Top Maoist leader and central committee member of the party Ramakrishna alias RK, who carries over Rs 2 crore reward on his head, was present in the camp when the exchange of fire began this morning.

“However, it is not yet clear if Ramakrishna is still there or has managed to escape,” the IG said.

Around 60 Maoists were present at the Panasput camp, added the IG.

The IG maintained that some rebels could have been killed in the encounter, but he could not give any number of causalities  since the exchange of fire was still on.

Intelligence report suggested that Ramakrishna was addressing a plenary session in the area.

“Normally plenary sessions are addressed by senior leaders like RK. During this session, the rebels deploy a five-tier security layer spanning a radius of about 5 km. Since the firing is still on we are yet to ascertain how may tiers we have been able to penetrate. And whether we will be able to reach RK or he would have escaped under the cover of fire, can be confirmed only after the firing ends,” IG said.

Meanwhile, Maoists rebels on Sunday night killed two persons at Koriaguda village under Padia police station in the district. The victims were identified as Jaga Kabasi and Joga Sodi alias Soti Naga.

The villagers said a group of around 30 rebels came to the village late in the night and took away the victims with them. They later conducted a praja court or kangaroo court at the end of the village where the two were declared as police informers.

“The rebels then tied Jaga Kabasi and Jaga Sodi to a tree and beat them to death,” relatives of the victims said.

After conducting a Praja Court at the village, they tied up the two villagers to a tree and beat them to death.