Raipur, April 2 -- In a major anti-insurgency operation, eight Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, police said.Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of general elections on April 19.

The gunfight took place at around 6 am in a forest near Lendra village under Gangaloor police station area, when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P told sources.

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) we...