BHAWANIPATNA: Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay on Thursday paid tributes to the two SOG jawans who were martyred during an encounter with the Maoists. The duo - Sudhir Kumar Tudu and Debasis Sethi - was also given a guard of honour at the Reserve Police Ground here.
Tudu (28) belonged to Sanbhadua village in Mayurbhanj district while 27-year-old Sethi was from Angapada in Angul.
Addressing mediapersons, the DGP said at least 12 Maoist cadres have been neutralised by security forces in three separate encounters in last two months.
While Kandhamal police killed seven Naxals, their Kalahandi counterparts eliminated five Maoists on Wednesday.
“This is a great achievement on the part of police and a setback to Maoist outfits. The two martyred jawans made the supreme sacrifice to safeguard the constitution,” he said and appealed to the Maoists to return to the mainstream.
Opposition Leader Pradipta Naik, Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra, Director, Intelligence RK Sharma, IGP, Operations Amitabh Thakur, DIG SIW A Singh, DIG SWR Safeen Ahamad K, Kalahandi Collector Harshad Parag Gavali and SP B Gangadhar paid floral tributes to the martyrs.
On Wednesday, five Maoists, four of them women, were killed in the encounter with at Kalahandi-Kandhamal border.
Two SLR and three country-made rifles were recovered from the spot along with other ammunition at the encounter site near Sikri Ghat.