Four Naxalites were killed in separate encounters with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Tuesday, a senior police official said.

Two gunfights took place in the forests between Bade Tungali and Chhote Tungali villages under the Jangla police station area, where separate teams of security personnel were out on an anti-Naxalite operation, the official said.

The operation was launched in the area on Monday based on information about the presence of Prashant, the platoon commander of company no. 2 of the west Bastar division of Maoists, Matwara local organisation squad (LOS) commander Anil Punem and other leaders along with 40 to 50 members of the Bhairamgarh area committee of Maoist, he said.

Personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Bastar Fighters — both units of the state police, and 80th and 231st battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were involved in the operation, he said.

The encounters occurred when one of the patrolling teams of the DRG was cordoning off the forest between Bade Tungali and Chhote Tungali villages, he said.

Following the shootouts, the security forces recovered the bodies of four Naxalites, a country-made pistol, a muzzle-loading gun, a barrel grenade launcher, three tiffin bombs, cordex wire, 10 gelatin sticks, 15 safety fuse, a wireless set, bows, arrows, axe and other Maoist-related materials, he said.

The identity of the deceased Naxalites was yet to be ascertained, he added.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.