Gadchiroli, Dec 14 (IANS): At least two Maoists were killed in an encounter with the police in the forests near the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border, an official said here on Thursday.

The incident followed a tip-off that a large contingent of Maoists were camping near Bodhintola, around 10 km from the Godalwahi outpost in Chhattisgarh.

The intel said that the Maoists were planning to ambush and carry out sabotage activities on the security forces and kill local tribals by branding them as police informers.

On receipt of the information, police parties were deployed to search the area on Thursday morning when the Maoists opened fire on them.

The police also retaliated and the exchange of fire went on for nearly an hour.

After the firing stopped, the police teams carried out a search of the area which led to the recovery of the bodies of two Maoists along with their weapons, an AK-47 and an SLR rifle.

One of the slain Maoists has been identified as Durgesh Watti, a deputy commander of the Kasansur Dalam, who was one of the chief conspirators of the deadly Jambulkheda blast of 2019 which killed 15 Gadchiroli Police officials.

Efforts are on to identify the second body. Further combing and search operations in the region are continuing, said an official of Gadchiroli Police.