Home Minister Rajnath Singh today spoke to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and reviewed with him the security situation in the state in the wake of the killing of seven naxals in separate encounters, an official said.
During the telephonic conversation, the home minister took stock of the situation in the wake of multiple encounters between security forces and naxals in two districts of the state.
The chief minister briefed the home minister on the steps taken by the state government to deal with the ultras, a home ministry official said.
The home minister also spoke to the chief of Odisha Police, Rajendra Prasad Sharma, and appreciated the success against the naxals.
A Maoist was gunned down today in a fresh encounter with security forces in the Sudukumpa reserve forest in Kandhamal district, taking the number of naxals killed in separate operations in the state since yesterday to seven.
Four Maoists, including two women, were killed in Kandhamal's Golanki village last evening and two naxals were shot dead at Dudkamal village of Balangir district early yesterday, police said.
A fresh gun battle broke out today when a joint team of Special Operation Group (SOG) and District Voluntary Force (DVF) was carrying out a combing operation in the Sudukumpa forest in Kandhamal.