3 women among 7 Maoists gunned down in Bijapur

At least seven Naxals, including three women cadres, were on Thursday gunned down in a fierce encounter with security forces in Chhattigsarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district, a senior police official said.

The skirmish took place at around 6 am in the forest near Timinar and Pusnar villages along the border of Bijapur and Dantewada districts when a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-Maoist operation, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, security forces had launched the operation from Dantewada district in the forest along the border of the two districts. 

While the security personnel were cordoning off jungles of Timinar and Pusnar villages in Bijapur, the exchange of fire broke out between the two sides, he said.

"After guns fell silent, bodies of seven Naxals, including three women, were recovered from the spot," Bastar DIG (Anti-naxal Operations) P Sundarraj said.

Besides, two Insas rifles, two  .303 rifles, one 12 bore gun and a few muzzle loading guns were also recovered from the spot, he said.

Further details are awaited as the search operation was still underway in the area, he added.