New Delhi - Three police personnel were killed and nine injured Thursday in an attack by Maoist rebels in India's central Chhattisgarh state, news reports said.

The incident took place in the thickly forested Mahakal area of the Bastar region, about 350 kilometers south of Chhattisgarh capital Raipur, IANS news agency reported.

"It was a Maoist ambush. The insurgents first triggered blasts and then opened indiscriminate fire on a joint patrolling team of the CRPF
(Central Reserve Police Force) and the district force," police official Pawan Deo was quoted as saying.

Reinforcements of 100 policemen reached the site of the attack within two hours of the incident, the police said.

Chhattisgarh police estimate that roughly 10,000 rebels operate in the Bastar region, which is among the regions worst-affected by the Maoist insurgency.

Maoist militants, who claim to be fighting for the rights of tribal people and rural poor, operate in 13 of India' s 29 states.

Chhattisgarh is one of the worst hit with nearly 1,250 people killed in Maoist insurgency-related incidents since 2004. (dpa)