Maoist guerrillas Monday gunned down 13 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers returning after a search operation in Chhattisgarh, officials said.
Additional Director General of Police R.K. Vij told IANS that the dead included two senior officers.
A CRPF source told IANS in New Delhi that the troopers were returning to their base after conducting a search for Maoists in Sukma district when they were attacked.
The incident took place near Chintagufa area, the source said. "Suddenly there was heavy firing from almost everywhere."
A police officer told IANS in Raipur: "We have suffered a major casualty in a forested stretch of Errabore area in Sukma.
"Heavily armed Maoists opened indiscriminate fire from all around on a contingent of the CRPF and the district police," the source said.
