RAIPUR: Four Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Tuesday, police said.

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

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were involved in the operation, he said.

After the exchange of fire stopped, the bodies of four Naxalites along with a light machine gun and other weapons were recovered from the spot, the official said.

Search operation was still underway in the area, he added.

Bijapur is located more than 400 km away from state capital Raipur.

With this incident, 37 naxalites have been killed in separate encounters with security forces in Bastar region, comprising seven districts including Bijapur, so far this year, according to police.

Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency which will go to polls in the first phase of general elections on April 19.