''The incident took place at Dewarpalli village, about eight km from Dornapal, when Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and district police raided the village,'' CPI South Bastar secretary Manish Kunjam, a former legislator of undivided Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, told UNI over phone.

He said police action took place when the naxalites were conducting a meeting where a large number of villagers were also present.

Several villagers were killed in the crossfire and their bodies were lying scattered all over the area.

Mr Kunjam alleged that the police had cordoned off the village for the last two days and was not allowing anyone to visit the area.

This gave rise to the suspicion that the number of deaths could be more and an attempt was being made to cover up the civilian killings.

Mr Kunjam said he had already brought the matter to the notice of CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan to demand an immediate inquiry by an independent agency over the encounter at a village where hundreds of innocent tribals were present.

When contacted by UNI, Dantewara Superintendent of Police Praveer Das denied the CPI charge that a large number of local tribals were killed at Dewarpalli during the police raid that led to the encounter with the Maoists .

He said eight naxalites were gunned down and five, including two women, were arrested after a about two-hour long encounter in the village.

UNI XC-JJ SY GC2127