India, Feb. 3 -- A human rights group on Monday demanded a judicial probe into the death of eight persons in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur on February 1, alleging that a joint team of security forces killed innocent villagers in a staged encounter.

The Chhattisgarh police immediately contested the accusation and linked the claim to the success of the offensive by the security forces that it said, has led to "irreversible setbacks" by the Maoists in their "erstwhile stronghold areas".

On Saturday, Chhattisgarh police said eight Maoists were killed in a gunfight between security forces and Maoists and that a state police jawan was also injured in the incident. A day later, the police said the eight were senior Maoist cadres carrying a cumulative...