Two Maoists were killed and one arrested following a fierce encounter with the security forces in the Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, said reports.
The gunbattle reportedly took place between a team of District Reserve Group in Bastar and the Maoists in the dense forests of Kudhur village.
The deceased have been identified as Jati Ram, a commander of Kudhur local operation squad of the Maoists, and Holdhar Kashyap, also a member of the group, a PTI report said.
The security forces were on their Tactical Counter-Offensive Campaign to plan a strategy to take on the Maoists, PTI quoted Bastar Range SRP Kalluri as saying.
"As per the operational plan, a DRG team of 35 personnel set off from Kondagaon towards interior of Mardapal on January 3," he said.
The Maoists laid an ambush when the team was returning, and started firing. When the security forces retaliated, they fled the area.
The DRG squad managed to arrest one of the Maoists, who has been identified as Jai Singh. The security forces have recovered two muzzle-loading guns and a country-made gun from the area.
In December, Maoists had attacked a Chhattisgarh Armed Forces camp in the Narayanpur district, resulting in the death of a jawan.
