Raipur, Oct 11 (IANS): Security forces destroyed a temporary camp of Maoist guerrillas in Abujhmad in Bastar district and razed to the ground two memorials erected to glorify the ultras in Kondagaon district, police said Wednesday.

Narayanpur district Police Superintendent Mayank Shrivastava told IANS: "A joint team of the Special Task Force and district police had gone to conduct a search and destroy operation in Karkabeda and Toke area. The team spotted a temporary camp of Maoists in the jungles."

He added: Sensing the presence of security forces, the insurgents started firing. After an hour-long gun-battle, the rebels retreated into the jungles. Security forces recovered four muzzle rifles, one country made gun, 10 rounds of .12 bore, fuse wires, detonators, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and Maoist literature from the site."

Kondagaon Additional Superintendent of Police (Operations) Surjeet Atri said that a team of district police and Central Security Forces was conducting a search operation in the forests of Madanar, Kajeng, Rengagodi, Adnar, Mungwal, Narih, Toynar and Permapal in the district.

"On getting information about two Maoist memorials in the jungles of Madanar near Cherang village, the team razed down the memorials," Atri said. The memorial at Madanar was about 15 feet tall while the one at Cherang was 25 feet tall.

The seven districts of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh -- Bastar, Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Kanker -- are a hotbed of Maoist insurgency for the last two decades.