The gunfight started 11 am when Maoists fired at security forces in Irpanar village (Representational)
Four securitymen have died and seven others have been injured in an encounter with Maoists at Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.
The encounter started around 11 am when Maoists opened fire at security forces in Irpanar village in Narayanpur district, which forces say, is a hotbed of Maoists in Chattisgarh.
The injured security men have been taken to Raipur for treatment while bodies of those killed including two sub-Inspectors and two District Reserve Guard constables have been sent to Narayanpur district headquarters.
"This is the first encounter between Maoists and security forces in the area which is a stronghold of Maoists and there are possibilities that they have suffered heavy losses as well" said Mr DM Awasthi, Special Director General anti-Naxal Operations.
It was a joint operation carried out by the District Reserve Guard personnel and the Special Task Force after specific intelligence inputs, said Mr Awasthi. The exchange of fire between security forces and Maoists went on for over an hour. The jawans were injured when an explosive device planted by the Maoists exploded during the search operations. Over 400 jawans from the District Reserve Guard and Special Task Force were part of the anti-Naxal operations.
Earlier on January 6, in another encounter a Maoist was killed in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. Additional Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told news agency PTI that a team of District Reserve Guard was carrying out counter-insurgency operations in the interiors of Gangaloor when they came under heavy firing from Maoist guerillas. Country made pistols and explosive devices were recovered.
With inputs from agencies