Sukma (Chhattisgarh) | Three Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Sunday, police said.

The gunfight broke out in the forested hills of Bhejji and Chintagufa police station areas in the morning when a team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-Naxalite operation based on inputs about the presence of Maoist cadres in the region, Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan told PTI.

So far, three Naxalites have been killed in the gunfight and the operation is still underway, he said.

With the latest action, 262 Naxalites have been killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year.

Of them, 233 were eliminated in the Bastar division, comprising seven districts, including Sukma, while 27 others were gunned down in Gariaband district, which falls in Raipur division. Two Naxalites were killed in Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district in Durg division.