India, June 11 -- Two Maoists, including a local organisation squad (LOS) commander carrying a Rs.5 lakh bounty, were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Pusgunna area of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, police said.

This comes a day after additional superintendent of police (ASP) Akash Rao Girepunje was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast, which was allegedly planted by Maoists in the Konta area.

The Kukanar police and the district reserve guard (DRG) launched a joint search operation on Tuesday, based on specific intelligence inputs regarding the presence of CPI (Maoist) cadres in the Pusgunna forests, said a statement issued by the Bastar Police.

The operation started around 2 pm. After the gunbattle stoppe...