A woman Maoist and a jawan of the Special Operation Group were killed and three other security personnel injured in a gunbattle between the two sides inside a forest at Pallur in Orissa's Koraput district on Thursday morning.
The fight began early in the morning in Pallur jungle when a group of 20-25 Maoist ultras ambushed jawans of the SOG, the state's elite anti-Naxal force, who conducting a combing operation in the area.
In the ensuing exchange of fire, a woman Maoist and an SOG jawan, Gangadhar Dalai, died, Koraput Superintendent of Police Dipak Kumar said.
Hailing from Bargarh district, Dalai was critically injured in a claymore mine explosion and died in a hospital.
Another jawan was also seriously injured in the explosion and was being taken to a hospital at Vishakhapatnam in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh by a helicopter.
Two other security personnel also sustained bullet injuries but their condition was not life threatening, Kumar said, adding that an INSAS rifle was found near the slain Maoist.
The rifle was stolen from the police training centre at Nayagarh on February 15, 2008, in an attack by the Maoists that had claimed 14 lives, Kumar said.
