A search operation was launched by the police in Battinapalli forest area in Charla mandal on Friday after the action team members of the banned CPI (Maoist) opened fire on a combing police party in the forest area earlier in the day, police said.
Acting on a tip-off that a Maoist action team was moving in the Battinapalli forest area to set ablaze the JCB and other machinery engaged in trench works, a police team was sent to the forest area.
While the police team was conducting combing operation, three members of the Maoist LGS action team opened fire on the police before retreating into the forest, police sources said, adding no one was injured in the incident.
Following the incident, the police stepped up combing operation in the Kistarampadu-Battinapalli forest area to track down the action team members of the outlawed outfit, who fled into the nearby forests.
