A Maoist was killed and four men, including two Central Reserve Police Force personnel, were injured in a fierce gunbattle between security forces and Naxalites at Bandu village in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand on Friday.
"The encounter broke out when the Maoists opened fire on a CRPF team. In the return fire, a Maoist was shot dead, and two Maoists were wounded," West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police, Akhilesh Jha, told reporters in Chaibasa.
Two CRPF personnel were also injured, with one suffering bullet wounds in his hand and another in his foot, he said, adding they have been admitted to a hospital in Chakradharpur.
The CRPF personnel were patrolling near Bandua when the Maoists started firing at them.
Three villagers shot dead by Maoists
Meanwhile, three villagers were shot dead by the Maoists in separate incidents in Jharkhand, police said on Friday.
The Maoists shot dead two persons at Lanjo village in West Singhbhum district on Thursday night.
In a separate incident on Thursday night, about 20 armed Maoists raided the house of a man at Chapiyamadgadh village in Garhwa district and took him to a nearby place before gunning him down, the police said. The Left-wing guerrillas left a note at the place stating that the villager was a police informer.