HYDERABAD/RAIPUR: 10 Maoists were on Friday killed in an encounter with police in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district as  a senior official of the Telangana Police said.

The encounter operation was held mutually by the Telangana and Chhattisgarh Police. The gun-combat also left a jawan wounded.

The confrontation took place in the Pujari Kanker forests under Pamed police station area, around 500 km from Raipur, Bijapur SP Mohit Garg said.A cache of weapons was aso recovered from the encounter site, he added.

"It was a joint operation by the Chhattisgarh and Telangana Police. Initial reports indicate ten Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire between them and police at around 6.30 AM in Bijapur district” ANI tweeted.

A clear picture would come out later, the Telangana police official said. The bodies are being taken to a nearby hospital for post-mortem and other  legal formalities, the official added.

The identity of killed Naxals was not right away identified, but security agencies consider some top Naxal leaders could be among those killed, officials said.

This encounter happened weeks after two security personnel and the manager of a road construction company lost their battle of lives and six security personnel were injured in a gunbattle that broke out between the forces and Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma.