(Rptg, adding dropped matter in third para)

Jagdalpur, July 2 (UNI) Five Naxals were shot dead today in a police encounter at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur Police District, police said.

''On a tip off about Naxal presence in Aturbeda village of this district, police reached the village, but did not find the Naxals and was returning when the ultras triggered a landmine blast,'' Superintendent of Police Sundarraj P said.

Though no casualty took place on the police side, five naxals were killed during the ensuing encounter, he added.

UNI XC-PS AK BST1348