India, July 26 -- Four alleged Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Saturday, police said.

Officials said that arms and ammunition have been recovered and the encounter is still in progress.

Bijapur superintendent of police (SP), Jitendra Yadav, said police have recovered four bodies and their identities are yet to be ascertained.

The exchange of fire began in the evening after security personnel launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs about Maoist presence in the south-western region of the district.

"Intermittent firing between the two sides has continued since then," said Yadav.

Security forces have recovered a cache of arms and ammunit...