The identity of the killed men was not immediately known, but security agencies believe some top Maoist leaders could be among those dead, officials said.

Hyderabad/Raipur: At least ten suspected Maoists were killed in an encounter with police in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Friday morning, a senior official of the Telangana Police said. The alleged Maoists were killed in a joint operation by the Telangana and Chhattisgarh Police.

The identity of killed men was not immediately known, but security agencies believe some top Maoist leaders could be among those killed, officials said.

According to the Indian Express, at least 12 Maoists were shot dead in an encounter with a joint patrolling team from five states, near Telangana-Chhattisgarh border. Two of the Maoists were identified as Damodar and Lakshmanna, the newspaper said, quoting sources. Damodar was the head of the north Telangana special zone.

A joint team of anti-Maoist Greyhounds from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and special police personnel from Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra were conducting combing operations in the border areas when the encounter occurred near Pujari Kankar, it said.