This comes days after 12 personnel of the CRPF were killed during an ambush by Maoists (Representational)
Six suspected Maoists were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said.
"There are reports of death of six Maoists in Aranpur area. Three security force men were also injured, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector," Aranpur police station in-charge Shankarnath Dhruv said.
Officials said the encounter took place early today in the Burgam village of the said district when a joint squad of CRPF and District Reserve Group (DRG) of state police was out for operations.
The gunfight occurred when Maoists, who had laid an ambush, fired on the security forces on patrol duty. The security forces found five bodies after the encounter.
"The encounter is still on. An AK series assault rifle has also been recovered," a senior officer said.
The officer said the exact details of the operation will take time to emerge as the encounter spot is deep inside jungle area and cellular phone and wireless connectivity is extremely poor.
Reinforcement teams have been rushed in, the officer added.
The 111 battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is leading the operation, they said.
This comes days after twelve personnel of the CRPF were killed during an ambush by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Sukma. Five others were injured in the ambush, which took place in Bheji district. The Maoists, reports said, later robbed 10 guns and the radio sets of the deceased CRPF men.
The CRPF said the men were providing security to road construction teams when the IED blast occurred.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)