A female Maoist rebel was killed in a security forces encounter in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh (a central Indian state long at the heart of a decades-old left-wing insurgency), according to police. The killing comes just days after the Indian government officially declared Chhattisgarh free of Maoist presence, a claim the incident appears to contradict. The encounter raises questions about the credibility of that announcement, as armed Maoists, also known as Naxalites, continue to operate in the region's forested interior.