Seven Naxals, including three women, were killed in an encounter with security forces in a forested patch of insurgency-hit Bastar district bordering Odisha on Saturday, police said.
The exchange of fire occurred at around 4 pm in the forest near Tiriya village under Nagarnar police station area, when a joint team of state forces was out on a counter-insurgency operation, state's Deputy Inspector General (anti-Naxal operations) Sundarraj P said.
The joint squad of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) was carrying out operation in the forest along Chhattisgarh-Odisha border in Bastar, he said.
When the patrolling team was advancing through forest of Tiriya, located around 400 km away from the capital Raipur, the gun-battle broke out between the two sides, he said.
After guns fell silent, bodies of seven ultras, including three women, were recovered from the encounter site, he said.
Besides, one INSAS rifles, four .303 rifles and a cache of muzzle loading guns were also seized from the spot, he added.
Top police officials claimed in Raipur that death toll of Maoists could be over a dozen as Maoists believed to have carried away a few dead bodies of their colleagues.