Bhubaneswar, Dec 7 (IANS): Two women Maoist cadres were killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces in the Matakupa Reserve Forest area in Odisha's Kandhamal district on Tuesday, DGP Sunil Bansal said.

During an intelligence-based operation, an exchange of fire took place between the Maoists and a team of special operation group (SOG) on the border of Gochhapada police station in Kandhamal district and Kantamal police station of Boudh district, said Bansal.

Later, during a search operation in the area, two bodies of female Maoist cadres in uniform with four firearms were recovered, he said.

"The process of identification of the bodies is underway. We suspect that both the deceased ultras were senior Maoist cadres," he said.

Combing operation has been intensified in the area, Bansal said.

The DGP also appealed to the Maoists to shun violence and join the mainstream.

Meanwhile, an inter-state coordination meeting on Left Wing Extremism (LWE) was held here on Tuesday. Senior police officers from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Intelligence Bureau, BSF and CRPF took part in the meeting.

Issues relating to the prevailing LWE situation in the inter-state borders of Odisha and Chhattisgarh, sharing of intelligence, deployment of security forces at strategic locations, inter-state coordination and inter-state anti-Maoist operations were discussed in the meeting, sources said.