Five Maoist guerrillas were gunned down by police during a gun battle on Sunday in Andhra Pradesh.
Police said the rebels belonging to the Communist Party of India-Maoist were killed in the forests of Venkatapuram in Khammam district, 250 kilometres northeast of Hyderabad.
The area borders Chhattisgarh state that too is affected by Maoist violence.
Khammam district police chief RK Meena said the gun battle occurred on early Sunday when a police team was combing the area following a tip-off that Maoists from Chhattisgarh had entered the district.
When the team spotted five Maoists in a forest and asked them to surrender, the rebels opened fire, forcing the policemen to retaliate.
All five guerrillas were killed and there were no casualties among the policemen.
Andhra Pradesh Police recently intensified patrolling along the inter-state boundary to prevent Maoists from entering the state after carrying out attacks in Chhattisgarh.
More than 6,000 people, including 4,000 Maoists, have been killed in Andhra Pradesh in violence by the rebels.