File photo of security forces in the Maoist-affected area.
The chief architect of the 2013 Maoists massacre of 25 senior Congress leaders, including former Union Minister VC Shukla in 2013, was killed in an encounter in Odisha's Malkangiri district today.
Sonadhar, who was the mastermind of the killing of Mr Shukla, Mahendra Karma and several other top leaders of Congress in Chhattisgarh on May 25, 2013, was killed along with two of his body guards in Malkangiri district.
On a tip-off, a team of Special Operation Group and District Voluntary Force launched an operation in Bhejaguda forest of Mathili area where they came face to face with a group of Maoists, sparking a gun-battle, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said.
Three Maoist rebels - Sonadhar, who was the Darbha Maoist division area committee Secretary, and his two body guards - were killed in the encounter while several others fled, he said.
In the 2013 incident in Chhattisgarh's Darba Ghati almost the entire Congress leadership in the state had been wiped out before the state assembly polls.
Mr Karma, a former Home Minister of Chhattisgarh, was the leader of Salwa Judum, an anti-Maoist operation. They were among 25 people killed in the Maoist ambush.
Sonadhar, who held an important position in Maoist hierarchy, was allegedly involved in many crimes in Mathili area in Odisha and adjoining Darabha region in Chhattisgarh, police said.
A pistol, some sharp weapons, walkie-talkie sets, Maoist uniforms and several other Maoist artefacts including literature were recovered from the site of today's encounter.
Combing operations and patrolling have been intensified in the area after the incident, they said.