Security personnel, Naxals exchange fire, no casualties

Security forces and Naxals exchanged fire near Rajnandgaon on Wednesday but no casualties were reported from either side, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of district police and ITBP launched a search operation in the forests between Murargota and Gubiagarh areas when they were fired on by a group of Maoists hiding there, Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla said.

The security personnel returned the fire, following which the extremists fled from the spot, he said, adding there were no reports of casualties from either side.

The police later recovered live and empty cartridges of SLR rifles, a plastic tent, Naxal-related material and items of daily use from the encounter scene, Shukla added.