Bhubaneswar: A boat carrying at least 64 policemen of Andhra Pradesh's special operations group (SOG) engaged to combat Maoist guerrillas capsized Sunday in a river in Orissa's Malkangiri district, an official said.
"Maoists opened fire on them when they were travelling in a motor boat in a river near Chitrakonda and the policemen retaliated (by firing back),” Pradeep Kapoor, state inspector general of police (operations), told reporters.
But the boat in which the policemen were travelling capsized, he said. Nine of the security personnel swam to safety and the others are missing, he said. A search is on for them. The policemen from Andhra Pradesh were carrying out search operation with the Orissa police for Maoist guerrillas.
