Indian security forces have shot at least 31 suspected Maoist rebels in the forests of the central state of Chhattisgarh, police said, in its biggest encounter this year. Two security personnel were also killed while two sustained injuries in the gun battle in Indravati area of Chhattisgarh on Sunday.

Rebels known as Naxalites have waged an insurgency that has ebbed and flowed over decades, but government operations have given them less space to maneuver.