Seven Maoists, including a key leader of the outlawed group with a Rs 20 lakh bounty on his head, were killed in an exchange of fire with the police in Mulugu district of Telangana on Sunday morning. Among those killed was Kursam Mangu alias Bhadru, a Telangana state committee member and the Yellandu-Narsampet area committee secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist), along with a woman cadre.

The exchange of fire took place during a combing operation in the Chalpaka forest area of Eturnagaram mandal, involving Greyhounds, an elite anti-Naxal force of Telangana Police, and the Maoists. “Seven Maoists, including a key leader, were killed in the exchange of fire,” Mulugu district Superintendent of Police Shabarish P said, adding that two AK-47 rifles were among the weapons seized from the scene.