Four cops killed in Jharkhand gun battle with Maoists

Four policemen were killed in a nearly two-hour-long gun battle with Maoist rebels in Jharkhand's Palamau district on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Four policemen were killed in a nearly two-hour-long gun battle with Maoist rebels in Jharkhand's Palamau district on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

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Acting on a tip-off, a police team raided a Maoist hideout near Baherakhad village in Palamau, 180 km from the state capital. A gun battle ensued as the rebels, asked to surrender, opened fire at the police, police spokesman SN Pradhan said.

Seven policemen were injured in the gun battle, and four of them died on the way to hospital.

Last week, Maoist rebels had carried a spate of attacks on security personnel in West Singhbhum and Bokaro districts, killing 24 security personnel and injuring around 19.

Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the 24 districts of Jharkhand. Nearly 1,500 people have been killed in Maoist-related violence in the last eight years.