6 Maoists killed in Indian gunbattle

Police said that the gunbattle took place in the Dantewada area, 500km south of state capital Raipur, after the rebels shot dead a police officer.

Nearly a dozen guerrillas were wounded in the fighting but they were taken away by their comrades into dense forests nearby where police had launched a combing operation, police officer S.K. Paswan said.

The gunbattle followed Friday's attack when the rebels blew up a jeep, apparently mistaking it for a police vehicle, killing 13 people, mostly tribes people and local traders.