Four Maoists held in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR - Four armed Maoists were arrested in Chhattisgarh Thursday after a brief gun battle with the police in restive Bastar region, officials said.

A strong contingent of heavily armed police personnel raided a forested hideout of Maoists in Bijapur district and opened fire on rebels who retaliated, Superintendent of Police R.N. Das told reporters.

Police managed to apprehend four rebels while the others escaped into the nearby forests, he said.

Bijapur is one of the worst Maoist-affected districts of the state along with Bastar, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Kanker that form the 40,000 sq km Bastar region - considered the hotbed of the left-wing rebels since the late 1980s.