SUKMA: Two Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Saturday, police said.

The gunfight took place in the morning in a forest under the Kistaram police station area, where a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan said.

He said personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action — an elite unit of the CRPF) are involved in the operation launched on Friday based on inputs about the presence of Maoists in the area.

Bodies of two Naxalites have been recovered from the encounter site so far, and a search operation was still underway in the area, the official said.

With this encounter, 83 Naxalites have been gunned down in separate skirmishes in the state so far this year. Of them, 67 were killed in the Bastar division comprising seven districts, including Sukma.