Gunfight between Maoists, security forces in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR - A gun battle broke out between the Maoists and security forces in a forested area in Orissa’s Koraput district Saturday evening, an official said. No security personnel was injured.

According to an intelligence department official, the Maoists opened fire as the security forces entered the forest on the basis of a tip-off about the presence of the guerillas.

“There may be some casualties on the Maoists’ side, but we are not sure,” director of intelligence department Prakash Mishra told IANS.

The firing lasted for half an hour, he said.

The gun battle took place a day after a high-level team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) met state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other senior police and administrative officials to discuss force deployment in the Maoist-affected areas.

The central government has already provided five battalions of paramilitary forces to the state as well as a helicopter for anti-Maoist operations under way in at least four southern districts of Koraput, Gajapati, Rayagada and Malkangiri.