No evidence of top Maoist leader's death: Odisha police

Rourkela and  nearby areas in Odisha's Sundargarh district are abuzz with reports about the killing of Anmol, area commander of Chotanagpur Committee Maoists, but a senior police officer said there was no evidence of that so far.

Anmol, who controls parts of Bihar, entire Jharkhand and Western Odisha, was present at a Maoist training camp near Langalkanta under K Balang police station in Saranda forest a few days ago when security forces demolished it, police sources said.

Deputy Inspector General of Western Range Y Jethua said, "Such reports cannot be confirmed on hearsay only. You need to have strong field evidence and so far there is nothing in this regard. We have no proof whatsoever to substantiate the report."

An officer of CRPF said on the condition of anonymity. "We are now controlling a large part of Saranda inside Odisha, where even the boundary is clearly demarcated between the states. We would have come to know about any incident involving the killing of such a top leader."