Raipur: Six policemen were killed and five injured Friday when armed Maoists attacked a 16-member contingent in a forested village of Chhattisgarh’s violence-hit Bastar region, a police officer said.

‘The armed rebels attacked our jawans who are drawn from the District Force (DF) in a planned manner,’ Additional Director General of Police Ramniwas, who heads Maoist operations, told IANS.

He said the rebels triggered blasts and fired at the 16-member DF squad when they were returning from Netanar village on eight motorcycles.

Maoists had damaged a portion of a forest department rest house in Netanar Thursday night.

Superintendent of Police (Bastar district) Ratanlal Dangi rushed extra forces to the attack site, about 300 km south of capital Raipur.

Police were not sure whether Maoists had looted arms of the deceased jawans which is usually the case.

The outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) holds sway since late 1980s in jungle interiors of the 40,000 sq km Bastar region which is made up of five districts — Bijapur, Narayanpur, Kanker, Bastar and Dantewada.

Police officers say that over 2,000 people were killed in Maoist violence in the state since it came into existence in Nov 2000.