Two alleged Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire with the police in Telangana's Mulugu district on Sunday, police said. The exchange of fire occurred in Mangapet forest area in the district when special police parties were combing the area based on a tip-off.

Police said the combing operation was launched, following reliable information about the movement of the extremists allegedly planning to carry out attacks.

Police recovered an SLR rifle and two double-barrel shotguns from the scene of the encounter. The slain Maoists were yet to be identified, but police suspect them to be part of the dalam that attacked and killed a former Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader on October 11.

Members of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist stabbed to death Maaduri Bheemeshwar (48) in front of his wife in Bokkapuram village in Venkatapuram mandal of the district bordering Chhattisgarh. Police say that Bheemeshwar had left political activities and was living a quiet life as a pesticide shop owner. He was murdered allegedly after refusing to give funds to the Maoist party.

Mulugu is among the districts where the police have stepped up vigil in recent months to foil the attempts of Maoists to regroup themselves. Police say the Maoists are trying to regroup in Telangana and thus have heightened vigil in the districts bordering Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

In the month of September alone, four instances of police encounters with Maoists were reported. As many as eight Maoists were killed in these exchanges in the region. Five of them were gunned down in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, bordering Chhattisgarh.

Mulugu, along with Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Kothagudem, KB Asifabad and Adilabad districts, have been witnessing extensive combing operations by the state Greyhounds (Anti -Maoist Special Police Unit).