Bhubaneswar, Sep 9 (IANS): At least four Maoists were gunned down during an exchange of fire with the security personnel in a forest in Odisha's Kandhamal district on Wednesday.

In this exchange of fire four Maoists have been neutralized and one jawan of Special Operation Group (SOG) has been injured. The injured Jawan is being evacuated, said an Odisha police statement.

It said the combing operation in the forest is underway.

On the basis of reliable intelligence input, an operation was launched on Kalahandi-Kandhamal border on Tuesday. Two composite teams of SOG and District Voluntary Force (DVF) had participated in this operation.

An exchange of fire took place at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. One team of SOG and DVF retaliated fire when they were subjected to heavy firing from the Maoists. This exchange of fire lasted for half an hour, the statement said.

More teams of SOG, DVF and CRPF have been sent to the area for combing and search operation.