It is estimated that 4-5 more Maoists have been injured in the encounter and search parties are still combing the area to apprehend them. (File photo)
Three Maoists including a woman were today gunned down in a fierce encounter with security forces in a dense forest pocket of Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Narayanpur district, police said.
The skirmish took place between a joint squad of security forces and ultras in the jungles of Sulenga-Tirkanar under Dhaudai police station limits, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena told news agency PTI.
The operation involving composite forces numbering around 700, comprising District Reserve Group, Special Task Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Chhattisgarh Armed Force and district force was planned by Naranyapur police with the support of Kondagaon district police, he said.
When a team of security forces were carrying out search operations to find their target places in jungles of Sulenga-Tirkanar, naxals opened fire on them, the SP said.
Immediately security forces took position and launched retaliatory attack that forced Maoists to flee from the spot.
However, security personnel followed the Maoists upto three kilometre in jungles but rebels had managed to disappear taking advantage of thick jungles, he said.
During search opertaion, body of three Maoists, including a female clad in a uniform, besides one INSAS rifle, one 315 rifle, one 12 bore country made guns, two muzzle loading guns and other items of daily use, were recovered from the spot, he said.
It is estimated that 4-5 more Maoists have been injured in the encounter and search parties are still combing the area to apprehend them, he said.
The identity of the killed Maoists will be known once the security force will reach back to its camps, he added.