Fourteen Maoists, including a top leader of the CPI (Maoists) with a reward of Rs 1 crore, were killed in a joint operation by central and state police forces along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border. Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district superintendent of police Nikhil Rakhecha said of the deceased, one has been identified as Jairam alias Chalpati, a central committee member of the CPI (Maoist), who was carrying a bounty of Rs 1 crore.

The identity of the remaining cadres was yet to be ascertained. Giving details of the incident, police said two women Maoists were killed during a joint operation on Monday along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border. A large cache of firearms, ammunition and IEDs, including a self-loading rifle, were recovered from the encounter site.