Raipur, Apr 2: The tally of Naxalites killed in an encounter between security forces and Naxalites in Chhatisgarh's Bijapur has gone up to nine, police said. The search operation is still on, they added.

After the encounter, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said that the encounter came after three villagers were killed by Naxalites.

"Bodies of Naxals are being recovered following an encounter operation by security forces after the murder of three villagers by Naxalites. Further search operation is underway," Vijay Sharma told ANI.

The encounter broke around 6 am on Tuesday at Lendra village in Bijapur after a joint search operation by the District Reserve Group (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that began on Monday night from Gangalur police station area, police said.

"We recovered the bodies of four Naxals after an encounter with the security forces near Kendra-Korcholi forest in Gangalur police station area of Bijapur district," Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, P Sundarraj, briefed reporters on Tuesday.

"One light machine gun (LMG), barrel grenade launchers (BGL) launchers and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the spot. The search operation is still underway," he added.

(ANI)

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