At least 13 Naxalites, including seven women cadres, were killed in an encounter with police in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on Friday, officials said.

The slain rebels belonged to Kasunsur Dalam (squad) of the Naxalites, police said. The encounter took place on a day the state home minister was visiting the eastern Maharashtra district, over 900km from Mumbai.

A release by Gadchiroli police said they had received inputs that Naxalites had gathered in the Paidi forest area in Etapalli tehsil for extortion as auctions of Tendu leaves — used for making bidis or leaf cigarettes — were underway.

A team of C-60 commandos, a special combat force of the district police, was sent to the area.

The encounter took place between 6am and 7.30am as around 60 to 70 Naxalites opened fire on the C-60 commandos and kept firing despite an appeal to them to surrender, it added.

After the rebels fled into the dense forest, the bodies of six male and seven female cadres were found, while some more rebels were possibly injured in the encounter, but managed to escape, the police said. One AK-47 rifle, an SLR, a carbine, a .303 rifle and explosives were recovered from the spot.

Ankit Goyal, Gadchiroli superintendent of police, told reporters that the encounter was a “tribute” to the 15 police personnel killed in an ambush in the district in 2019.

As many as 27 Naxalites have been killed in the district since September 2020, he said.

Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse praised the police for the operation.

“Naxalites are trying to weaken our democracy. I am proud that police officers and personnel are fighting them ably,” he told reporters.