Five Maoists were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday, police said.

Jharkhand DGP Ajay Kumar Singh confirmed the encounter and the killing of five Maoists and termed it as an outcome of a sustained operation against extremist forces by the state police in association with the CRPF.

"It is a big success for Jharkhand police and is an outcome of the sustained operation against Maoists by security forces. Five Maoists, including two special area committee (SAC) members with a Rs 25-lakh bounty on their heads, were killed in the encounter. The group was involved in incidents at Chatra, Latehar, Palamau (in Jharkhand), and Gaya (in Bihar),” said Singh.

The DGP said no casualty had been reported by the security forces.

According to police sources, the encounter took place around 9am in the Lawalong police station area situated in the bordering area of Chatra and Palamau district, around 160km from Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi.

"On a tip-off, a team of Chatra police, CRPF, and CoBRA team launched a search operation on Monday when the encounter took place. The Maoists started firing indiscriminately at the security forces. After the encounter during the search operation, the forces found the bodies of Gautam Paswan and Ajit Oraon who carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh each. Nandu, Amar Ganjhu, and Sujit Bhuiyan were sub-zonal commanders and carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh each.

"The forces also recovered two AK-47s and one Insas rifle, two other rifles, and a large number of live cartridges from the possession of the killed Maoists,” the source claimed.