At least 27 Maoists have been killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, officials said on Wednesday, with sources claiming that top Maoist leader Basavaraju was among them.
A member of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a unit of state police, was also killed in action while some others sustained injuries, police said.
Security forces achieved "historic success" during the encounter as a top Maoist leader was eliminated, a senior police official said without giving more details.
Sources claimed that Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, the general secretary of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) who was in his late 60s, was among the slain Maoists, though police did not confirm it officially.
The encounter took place in dense forests of Abhujmad on the tri-junction of Narayanpur-Bijapur-Dantewada districts, the senior police official said.
The operation involving personnel of DRG from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Kondagaon was launched two days ago based on intelligence inputs about the presence of Central Committee and Politburo members of the Maoists, as well as senior Maad Division cadres and PLGA (Peoples' Liberation Guerilla Army) members, he said.
"So far, the bodies of 27 Naxalites and a large number of weapons have been recovered," the official said.
"One DRG team member was martyred, while a few other personnel sustained injuries during the encounter. All the injured have been administered medical aid and their condition is out of danger," the official added.
The search operation was still underway, he said.
Earlier in the day, deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma who holds the Home portfolio said some top cadres were among the slain Naxalites.
With the latest action, 200 Naxalites have been killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year. Of them, 183 were eliminated in the Bastar division which includes districts of Bijapur, Narayanpur, Dantewada and Kondagaon.
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