Six policemen were injured, two of them critically, in an encounter with Maoists at Chindgarh in Sukma district, about 450 km south of Raipur, the Chhattisgarh capital, early on Wednesday.
The Sukma additional superintendent of police Surjan Ram Bhagat told Hindustan Times that the rebels targeted the police party which was on the search operation. The guerillas detonated couple of landmine blasts and opened fire on the force.
"The naxal attack was retaliated leading to an encounter. Sixr jawans were injured and admitted in a local hospital. Two are reported to be in critical state", Bhagat said. He said the blast occurred at around 8am and there is however no report of any casualty on either side.
In another incident at Bijapur, south Chhattisgarh, the rebels continued their reign of terror killing two villagers suspected the duo as police informers.
The CPI (Maoist) had given a call for Bharat bandh on Wednesday against the presence of Army in Bastar and the anti-rebel operations by the security forces. The bandh has hit the normal life in interior parts of restive Bastar region. A top police officer in the state PHQ said: "The Chhattisgarh government has beefed up security to scuttle naxal bandh".