Bokaro, Jan 22 (IANS): In a major operation, two Maoists including a female cadre, were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Tejnarayanpur police station area of Bokaro district early on Wednesday morning, police officials said.

The operation also led to the recovery of a cache of weapons and other items belonging to the Maoists.

The encounter took place during a joint search operation by the Bokaro District Police and the 209th Battalion of the CRPF’s elite Cobra unit.

Acting on specific Intelligence about the presence of an armed Maoist gang in the Jarwa and Banshi forests of Upar Ghat, the forces cordoned off the area. As the search progressed, the Maoists opened fire, which led to retaliation from the security forces.

Among the recovered weapons were one AK-47 rifle and two INSAS rifles. The slain Maoists were later identified as Shanti and Manoj Baske.

Shanti, a resident of Dhawaiyatand village under Khukhara police station in Giridih district, was an area commander of the CPI (Maoist).

Manoj Baske, the second slain cadre, hailed from the Pirtand police station area in the same district.

The operation followed the arrest of Shanti’s husband, Ranvijay Mahato, on Tuesday evening from the Chandrapura police station area. Ranvijay, a wanted Maoist with a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head, was apprehended by Jharkhand Police. His interrogation provided crucial information about the Maoist gang’s movements in the region.

Police officials said the operation is still going on, with security forces continuing to comb the area.

A day earlier, 14 Maoists, including six women, were killed in an encounter with the security forces on the Odisha-Chhattigarh border in another major operation. Their bodies have been recovered.

Earlier on January 16, at least 17 Maoists were killed in an encounter with the security forces in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, and a large cache of weapons was also recovered.