Nepalgunj, March 1: Soldiers dropped down from helicopters to stub out Maoists in the deadliest fighting since King Gyanendra seized power last month, killing at least 70 guerrillas in a gun battle that raged for over seven hours.

The fighting erupted yesterday when the rebels fired on Royal Nepal Army soldiers who had gone to remove barricades in Ganeshpur village in Bardiya district. The village is close to a Maoist stronghold and is about 110 km from Uttar Pradesh?s Bahraich district.

Army sources said two soldiers and two local policemen were killed in the initial burst of gunfire by the rebels, who had last month set up the barricade to enforce a transport blockade in protest against the king.

Unable to match the might of the Maoists, the soldiers sent for reinforcements from nearby army camps. Witnesses said guns boomed loud and long after armed jawans landed at the clash site in choppers, wiping out the rebels.

About 50 bodies were found this morning from the Bardiya jungles close to which the gun battle raged, RNA sources said. ?We have found bodies of guerrillas scattered in the fields and forest,? Reuters quoted an army spokesman as saying.

Local television channels reported that surviving rebels fled, leaving behind unexploded bombs, sleeping bags, shoes and sandals strewn in nearby wheat fields. Sophisticated assault rifles, machine guns and carbine were found at the clash site.

Residents in Gulariya, a nearby town, said soldiers picked up bodies scattered in wheat fields and forests and took them away in trolleys attached behind tractors for mass burial. There was no comment from the guerrillas who usually take away their fallen comrades for burial.

Some Maoists are believed to have crossed the border into India, of which four have crossed the river Korpali and sneaked into the hilly areas of Uttaranchal. Four others have been picked up from an Indian village and are being questioned, an officer of the Special Services Bureau, which maintains border surveillance, in Bahraich said.

Police in the three Uttar Pradesh districts of Lakhimpur Kheri, Balarampur and Bahraich have been asked to step up vigilance along the border.

Lt Col. Yagga Bahadur Rajoure, in charge of army operations in the districts of western Nepal, said 50 bodies have been seized. ?Search and mop-up operations are still on,? he said in Nepalgunj.

Bahraich SP R.P. Singh said raids were being carried out in Kalan and Sujhauli areas of the district. Indian villagers are being questioned for clues on the whereabouts of the Maoists, he said.

King Gyanendra took power last month blaming Nepal?s warring politicians for having failed to tackle the Maoists.