4 Maoists gunned down in Gadchiroli district along Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border

Four alleged Maoists were killed in an encounteron Friday in a joint operation carried out by Maharashtra police's special commando unit C-60 and the CRPF.

Amongst those killed includes a dalm commander, the police said. The encounter in Maharashtra comes two days after 27 Naxals, including their top leader Basavaraju, were gunned down by security forces in adjoining Chhattisgarh. According to the Maharashtra police, based on specific intelligence received that some Maoists carrying out ambushes in the recently established police station Kawande under Bhamragad subdivision on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border were planning an attack, a joint operation was undertaken.On Friday morning, when the cordon was being laid and the banks of Indravati rivers were being searched, Maoists allegedly started indiscriminate firing on C-60 commandos. An encounter ensued and an intermittent exchange of fire continued for almost two hours. A search operation conducted by the team later led to the recovery of bodies of four Maoists, the police said.

Meanwhile, a Maoist was killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, a police official said on Friday. "One Naxalite has been killed in the gunfight, and an intermittent exchange of fire is still underway, the official said.