RAIPUR: A sub-inspector in charge of Madanwada police station was killed in an exchange of fire with the Maoists on Friday night even as the forces shot dead four rebels close to Manpur in Rajnandgaon district, about 170 km west of Raipur.
"Based on the inputs about the presence of around 10 Maoist cadres in the region, a team of district police force left on an operation on Friday night. While the forces were cordoning off the area, the rebels attempted to leave the village resulting into an encounter.
"We lost a police officer. Four bodies of Maoists in uniform besides four weapons including AK-47 and a self-loading rifle (SLR) were recovered from the site," Rajnandgaon superintendent of police Jitendra Shukla told TNIE.
The fierce gunfight took place during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
The deceased police officer S K Sharma was leading the operation. Among the four bodies recovered by the forces two are women.
Rajnandgaon sharing the border with Maharashtra is among the Maoist-affected districts in Chhattisgarh.