Gadchiroli encounter: Four police personnel were also seriously injured in the action (File)
At least 26 Maoists were killed on Saturday in an encounter with police in eastern Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, over 900 km from Mumbai, senior officials said.
Milind Teltumbde, a member of the Maoists' central committee, was suspected to be among those dead, some reports said, though police did not confirm them.
Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse-Patil told news agency PTI the police were verifying if Teltumbde, one of the wanted accused in the Koregaon Bhima-Maoists links case, was among those killed.
Gadchiroli district Superintendent of Police Ankit Goyal said they had recovered the bodies of 26 Maoists so far from the forest.
The gun battle began in the morning at Korchi in Mardintola forest area when a C-60 police commando team was conducting a search operation, Mr Goyal said.
Four police personnel were also seriously injured in the action and were taken to Nagpur by a helicopter for treatment.
The district lies on the border of Chhattisgarh.