Bhubaneswar: Hunt for top Maoist leader Ramakrishna, alias RK, is set to be stepped up in the wake of security forces killing four female rebel cadres at Narayanpatna in Koraput district on March 25.

The slain Maoists were part of a camp being organized in the area, a known rebel bastion, by the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee of the CPI (Maoist) headed by Ramakrishna.

The engineer-turned-Maoist is also a central committee member of the banned outfit. Ramakrishna, who suffered serious injuries in the October 2016 Jantri encounter in which 24 rebels were killed, has been directing rebel operations both in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

Sources said he also plans major Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh.

Rattled by the losses they suffered in the Jantri encounter in which RK's son, Munna, was also killed, the Maoists had hit back with a landmine blast in the Sunki valley of Koraput district in February last year. The blast killed eight police personnel.