Bhubaneswar: A top Maoist leader carrying a bounty of ₹1.1 crore was killed in an encounter during a joint security operation in Odisha, police said today.

The encounter took place in the Chakapad police station area of Kandhamal district and the Rambha forest range along the Kandhamal-Ganjam border. The operation was launched following intelligence inputs received by the Special Intelligence Wing.

According to the Odisha Police, as many as 23 teams took part in the operation, including 20 teams of the Special Operations Group, two teams of the Central Reserve Police Force and one team of the Border Security Force.

During the operation, security forces engaged in multiple exchanges of fire with the Maoists. Four Maoists, including two men and two women, were killed in the encounter. All of them were wearing Maoist uniforms, police said.

One of those killed has been identified as Ganesh Uike, a central committee member of the banned Maoist organisation and its Odisha in-charge. He was carrying a reward of ₹1.1 crore on his head.

The identities of the remaining three Maoists are yet to be confirmed.

Security forces recovered two INSAS rifles and one .303 rifle from the encounter site. Search and combing operations are continuing in the surrounding forest areas to rule out the presence of any other Maoists, police added.

About Ganesh Uike

Ganesh Uike was a senior Maoist leader who had been active for nearly 40 years and was among the most wanted Maoists in the country.

A native of Telangana’s Nalgonda district, he was promoted to the central committee of the banned Maoist organisation a few years ago.

Uike was the key planner of the 2013 Jhiram Ghati massacre in Chhattisgarh, in which several senior Congress leaders were killed. He was also linked to several major Maoist attacks in different states.

For the last three years, he had been operating in Odisha’s Kandhamal region, where he coordinated guerrilla operations and worked to expand Maoist networks.