Three persons, including a CRPF officer and a civilian girl, were killed and two others injured in a gun battle between the Maoists and the paramilitary force in Bijapur district of the state on Friday, police said.
Two girls were caught in the crossfire, police said, adding one of them died while the other sustained injuries.
The gun-battle took place at around 11 am close to a culvert near Keshkutul village under the Bhairamgarh police station area when a team of the CRPF's 199th
battalion was out on an area domination operation on motorcycles, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Divyang Patel said.
The bike-patrolling team of the paramilitary force was heading towards Bhairamgarh from its camp in Keshkutul. When it was advancing through Keshkutul, located around 450 km away from the capital Raipur, the CRPF team was ambushed by a group of armed rebels and a gunfight ensued, he said.
"Two CRPF personnel -- an assistant sub-inspector Madhu Patil and head constable Taju Oti – belonging to force’s 199th battalion were killed. Another assistant sub-inspector Madan Pal of the same unit was injured in the gunfight," Patel said.
Two minor girls travelling in a goods carrier were caught in the crossfire when their vehicle was passing
through the encounter spot. One of them died, while the other was injured, the SP said.
Reinforcement was rushed to the spot soon after being alerted about the incident and the injured were admitted at Bhairamgarh hospital, he said.
Later, during search of the encounter spot, two pressure improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were recovered from the spot, the SP added.
According to another police official, Naxals also looted one AK-47 rifle, its four magazines, one Bullet Proof jacket, one wireless set from the CRPF team during the encounter.