Patna, March 8: Four Maoists were killed in Gaya district this afternoon following an over-eight-hour gunbattle with Central Reserve Police Force's CoBRA battalion, in a big morale boost for the force that lost 10 commandos in an ambush in Aurangabad last July.

The operation began around 5am in the Banskatwa forest close to the Jharkhand border, around 100km south of Patna. Around 1.30pm, four Maoists, including a self-proclaimed zonal commander, were killed.

Security personnel had received tip-off of a meeting of top Maoist leaders in the area, who immediately started firing as the highly trained commandos entered the forest with the local police. In about an hour, the Maoists retreated and later, four of them were found dead, said Rajnish Tiwary, deputy commandant of CoBRA battalion.

Two of them have been identified as Deepak, alias Anil, and Rajesh Das. Insas rifles, AK-47 assault rifle and carbine purportedly looted from the police were also recovered.

CRPF inspector-general (Bihar sector) Manvider Singh Bhatia told The Telegraph: "This is certainly a major success for the security forces. It will certainly boost the morale of the central armed forces."