In what is described as a big blow to the Maoist movement, the security forces have gunned down 16 of their members at Maharashtra. The incident took place in a thick forest at Gadchiroli district. The police have of course claimed that the encounter happened only as a means of self defence. There were unconfirmed reports that the top brass of Maoist leadership such as Shrinivasan and Sainath were also killed in the encounter.