Policeman dies in a Naxal attack in Gadchiroli

A policeman identified as Umesh Jaavde died late Thursday night after a group of Maoists opened fire on a police patrol in the Murumgaon Forest area of Maharashtra's Gadchiroli District.

The body of the police man has been sent for post mortem and will later be handed over to his family.

Jaavde hailed from Maharashtra's Osmanabad District.

On June 15, police had busted a Maoist hideout in the jungles of Gadchiroli. One rebel was killed during the encounter and many explosives were recovered.

Maoists, also known as Naxals, have killed police and politicians, and targeted government buildings and railway tracks in an insurgency that has killed thousands since the 1960s.

The Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless, control some of India's mineral-rich areas and operate in large areas of the eastern, central and southern countryside.

The rebels are estimated to number 7000 hardcore fighters in nearly a third of India's 630 districts.