Chhattisgarh Maoist ambush: Nine policemen confirmed dead

"We have recovered nine bodies. Search operations are still on," Director General of Police Vishwaranjan said.

The 10 police personnel, including an additional superintendent of police, were missing after Maoists ambushed their vehicle in a thickly forested area along the Chhattisgarh-Orissa border.

The guerrilla attack has stunned the police department as it is the first Maoist ambush in Raipur district, along the state's border with Orissa. The Maoist violence was till now confined mainly to Chhattisgarh's southern tip of Bastar region.

Additional Director General of Police Giridhari Nayak said that Maoists ambushed the 10-member police search squad, led by Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Pawar, when they were returning in a tractor to Gariaband in Raipur district from the Orissa border.

"The police team had gone to the Orissa border in a Bolero vehicle after they received information that two Maoists had surrendered, but the vehicle developed some technical snag and the police team hired a tractor," he said.