30 Naxalites shot dead by security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region

Dantewada: Around 30 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Friday, a senior police official said.

The gunfight broke out at around 1 pm in the forest of Abhujmaad on the Narayanpur-Dantewada inter-district border when a joint team of security personnel was out on anti-Naxal operation, he said.

Earlier after the guns fell silent, bodies of seven Naxalites along with a cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle and one SLR (self-loading rifle), were recovered from the encounter spot, the official said.

A search operation was still underway in the area, he added.