Two ultras die in shootout with AP police

Two members belonging to the outlawed CPI (Maoist) died in an exchange of fire with Andhra Pradesh police on the Andhra-Odisha Border area on Monday, police said.

A statement from the Director General of Police D Gautam Sawang said in all five Maoists were killed in the exchange of fire in the last two days.

Elite Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh police on Sunday had killed three members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), including two women, in an encounter in Visakhapatnam district, police said.

"This is another major blow to the Maoists in the Andhra-Odisha border area. The Maoists have been losing ground with people coming in support of the police and the government, the DGP said.

An AK47 rifle, a rifle and a pistol were recovered from the encounter spot on Monday, he said.

On Sunday, two self-loading rifles, a rifle and a pistol were recovered.

"It is suspected that a top Maoist cadre must have been killed, as the recovery of AK47 denoted. One of the woman members killed yesterday is suspected to be an Area Committee Member," the DGP said, though the identity of the killed Maoists was not revealed.

Several top cadres, including a district committee member and four area committee members, had surrendered in the last three months due to extensive police action, Sawang noted.

Police parties were still combing the area and follow up operations have been further intensified, he added.