Seven naxals, including five women, were gunned down in an encounter with the police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district this morning, an official said.

The skirmish took place around 7 am at a forest in Kalled village, about 15 kms north of Zinganoor outpost in Sironcha tehsil of Gadchiroli, when a squad of C-60 commandos (Maharashtra police's special anti-Maoist unit) was out on anti-Naxal operation, a senior police official told PTI.

The patrolling team was cordoning-off the forest patch near Kalled, which borders neighbouring Chhattisgarh, when the exchange of fire took place between the two sides, he said. "Seven Maoists, including five women, were killed in the encounter while some weapons were also recovered from the spot," the official said.

The bodies of Naxals were being retrieved from the forest, he said adding the rebels were yet to be identified. A search operation was underway in the area, police said.

Another naxal was gunned down in an exchange of fire with security forces in a dense forest in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district. The skirmish took place in the forests of Duled village under Chintalnar police station limits.

A joint team of CoBRA (commando battalion for resolute action) 201st battalion - a CRPF specialised unit, and local police had launched the counter-insurgency operation in the jungles of Chintalnar. (PTI)