Two security personnel were killed and five others were injured in two separate encounters with Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, the police told PTI on Sunday. The toll rose to three after another jawan succumbed to his injuries, according to ANI.

One Naxalite was also killed during the operation, the police said.

“While two District Reserve Guard jawans were killed, five Special Task Force personnel were injured in two gunbattles between a joint team of security forces and ultras under Chintagufa Police Station limits in the district,” Special DGP (anti-Maoist operations) DM Awasthi told PTI.

A composite squad of the Special Task Force, District Reserve Guard, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite unit, Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, had been conducting searches in the interiors of Chintagufa forests since Friday after receiving inputs about the location of Maoist hideouts.

In April, 25 CRPF jawans were killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma, after which a new CRPF chief had been appointed. After that, 15 Maoists were killed in Bastar in May.