Three naxalites were killed in an anti-Maoist operation in Odisha's Malkangiri district at around 9:30am on Saturday, 19 September.
One of the naxalites has been identified as Sunadhar, who is a Maoist leader from the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh, reported The Hindu.
The Odisha government had declared a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on Sunadhar. The other two naxalites have not been identified yet. Their corpses have been sent for autopsy.
The encounter occurred when a contingent of Malkangiri District Voluntary Force (DVF) discovered a secret Maoist camp in Bhejaguda forest, The Hindu quoted Superintendent of Police (SP) Mitrabhanu Mohapatra as saying.
The security forces retaliated to the naxalite firing and overpowered them, killing three of them at the spot, while the rest have managed to escape, the report added.
On 18 September, about 400 Maoist supporters had surrendered before the police in the naxal-hit Malkangiri district.
