At least 14 people, including 10 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force and four Maoists, were killed in Bihar's Dumari Nala forest area that borders Gaya, in an encounter that began late on Monday. The incident took place after security forces began a combing operation but were trapped after the Maoists set off at least 21 improvised explosive devices, Hindustan Times reported.

The director general of the state police, PK Thakur, said eight of the jawans died immediately, while two of the five wounded succumbed to their injuries later in hospital. The bodies of three rebels were recovered, Thakur added.

District Magistrate of Gaya Kumar Ravi, who is overseeing relief operations, said they had sent back-up following the casualties from the IED blasts, but were unable to rescue the CRPF men as they were drawn into a heavy gunfight with the Maoists. "We sent a helicopter, but it was unable to evacuate our people as the Maoists engaged our forces in heavy firing. The Gaya international airport will be open throughout the night, and BSF [Border Security Force] choppers are on standby," he said.

The loss of 10 CRPF personnel makes this one of the worst attacks in recent times, in terms of the number of casualties in anti-Naxal activities. According to a senior officer, the search operations had been underway for two days following a tip-off that Maoists led by one "Sandeepji" of the Bihar Jharkhand Special Area Committee were going to assemble in the Naxal-heavy region of Madanpur. They also recovered arms and ammunition from the location.

Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh contacted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday to discuss the encounter. The bodies of three Maoists were recovered from the jungle. Director General of the CRPF K Durga Prasad will visit Gaya to assess the situation, ANI reported.