At least seven Maoist rebels were killed in a gunbattle with the security forces on Thursday night near Palnad in Dantewada district about 550 km south of Raipur.

Dantewada superintendent of police Amresh Mishra told Hindustan Times the police had recovered seven bodies so far. "The red ultras ambushed security forces, moving on search operation inside the dense forested area. The attack was swiftly retaliated by the cops killing seven rebels", the SP said. However, there is no report of any injury or casualty suffered by the police.

"The security forces returned Dantewada base camp on Friday morning and briefed us about the incident", Mishra added. Few arms and ammunitions were also recovered from the encounter site, it was told.

The forces were on the patrolling and search operation as part of their ongoing operation against the red-guerillas.