Raipur | In a major anti-insurgency operation, eight Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, police said.

Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of general elections on April 19.

The gunfight took place at around 6 am in a forest near Lendra village under Gangaloor police station area, when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were involved in the operation, he said.

After the exchange of fire stopped, the bodies of four Naxalites along with a light machine gun and other weapons were recovered from the spot, he said.

Later four more bodies were found at the encounter site, the IG said, adding that search operation was still underway in the area.

Notably, Naxalites carry out the Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) in the summer season between March and June every year and step up their activities. A large number of attacks on security forces have taken place in the Bastar region during this period.

On March 27, six Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Basaguda area of Bijapur, police earlier said.

With the latest incident, 41 Naxalites have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in Bastar region, comprising seven districts including Bijapur, according to police.