Bhubaneswar: A Maoist carrying a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head and the Odisha head of the outlawed outfit were killed in an encounter with security forces near the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, official sources said today.

The deceased were identified as Jayram alias Chalapathi and Manoj. While Jairam was a member of the central committee of the Maoists, Manoj was heading the Odisha division of the extremists.

Worth mentioning, as many as 12 Maoists were killed in an encounter with a joint team of Odisha and Chhattisgarh police in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The operation was launched on the night of January 19 on the basis of intelligence inputs indicating the presence of a large number of Maoists in the Kularighat Reserve Forest of Chhattisgarh, located just 5 kilometres from Odisha's Nuapada district.

On January 20, the security forces neutralized two women Maoist cadres and seized a significant cache of firearms, ammunition, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including a self-loading rifle (SLR).

In the latest encounter, 12 Maoists were killed during an exchange of fire with the Special Operations Group (SOG) jawans. Arms and ammunition have been recovered in large quantities, and the number of casualties could rise as the operation continues.

A massive search operation is underway in the border areas of Nuapada district in Odisha and Gariabandh district in Chhattisgarh.