Five Maoists, including a top leader carrying a cash reward of ₹25 lakh on his head, escaped from the scene of what would have been a major exchange of fire near Thiryani in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district, 300 km from here on Monday afternoon.

Mailarepu Adellu alias Bhaskar, a member of Telangana State Committee of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) with a cash reward of ₹ 25 lakh on his head, hails from Pocharam village in Boath mandal. While, Varghese Koya aka Manglu of Chhattisgarh, who slipped into the jungle with Bhaskar and three others, had a reward of ₹ 5 lakh on his head.

Based on specific information that a Dalam was moving in the hillocks in Thiryani police station limits, multiple police parties carried out combing operations in the area, and the five rebels had a narrow escape, KB Asifabad in-charge Superintendent of Police Vishnu S. Warrier told The Hindu.

The police recovered several incriminating materials, including revolutionary literature, uniforms, electronic gadgets, detonators, cordex wires and three solar panels.

When asked whether there was any exchange of fire between the parties, Mr. Warrier denied and said, “Maybe they learnt about our presence in the jungle and escaped. We did not confront them.”

Police believe that the Maoists are still in the forest and will continue the combing operation. “Search for the escaped Maoists will continue. Our teams are making efforts to nab them,” the SP said.

If sources are to be believed, the movement of Maoists was noticed considerably in the district after the lockdown as people, especially in tribal hamlets, returned to their habitation and the members of the banned Maoist party took the opportunity to ‘interact’ with them.