Four Maoists were gunned down in a fierce gun battle with troopers of Bijapur District Reserve Group (DRG) near villages Hallur and Hakwa under Mirtur police station in restive Bijapur district of Bastar region, police said.
The DRG troopers recovered four uniformed bodies and as many weapons ( one service pistol, one .303 service rifle, one. 315 rifle, one 12 bore rifle).
One body has been identified as of Rainu who was Bairamgarh Area Committee Action Team Commander, police said.
"The operation was conducted by a team of DRG personnel this morning after they got a tip-off about movement of Naxals in Mirtur police station area of the district, according to Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bastar Range, S R P Kalluri.
The DRG team comprising 55 personnel was mobilised to the interiors of Mirtur, he said.
As police cordoned off a forest axis between Hallur and Hakwa villages, a group of armed insurgents opened indiscriminate fire on them triggering a gun-battle between the two sides, Kalluri said.
"The gunfight lasted for about an hour. On finding the security personnel zeroing-in on them, the rebels fled into the dense part of the forest," he said.
Further details of the operation will be known once the DRG team returns to its camp, Kalluri said.