By IANS
Raipur : Maoist rebels shot dead a policeman and seriously wounded two cops in a gun battle in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh Wednesday evening, police said.
The incident took place at Ghanora village, about 325 km south of capital Raipur.
"A combing team consisting of about 25 police personnel was challenged by Maoist militants in a forested area and the cops retaliated with heavy firing. One police jawan, Anil Devangan, was shot dead and two others were injured seriously in the gun battle that lasted about half an hour," a senior police officer told IANS over phone from Bastar.
He said the Maoists too suffered some casualties or injuries but police could not recover any body.
The officer added that reinforcements were sent to the site to apprehend the attackers who sneaked into forests after the firefight.
Police say that about 5,000 hardcore Maoists armed with AK-47 and landmines backed by about 20,000 cadres who carry self-loading rifles and traditional weapons like bows and arrows, are active in the state mainly in its southern tip – Bastar, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Kanker and Dantewada districts.