At least seven policemen were killed and a dozen injured when Naxals ambushed them, triggering a gunbattle in the dense jungles of Maoist hotbed of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.

The two-hour gunbattle took place in the worst-affected Pidmel-Polampalli area of the district when a squad of state police Special Task Force (STF) was out for operations.

Security officials engaged in anti-Maoist operations said TCOC in Chhattisgarh had begun in late March and this is the first big casualty on the forces’ side.