A district committee member of the outlawed People's War Group and two other women members were gunned down by the police in Andhra Pradesh down on Wednesday.

Lalitha alias Lalithakka carried a reward of Rs 800,000 on her head while the other two -- Padmakka, commander of the Kotapalli guerilla squad, and Geetakka, a gunwoman -- carried a reward of Rs 200,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively.

Director General of Police Pervaram Ramulu said the encounter took place on near River Pranahita in Adilabad district. Five other Naxalites fled from the scene, he said.

Lalitha's dalam (armed squad) was being trailed by a special police party for three days, the DGP said. They finally confronted the group and in the gun battle the three women naxalites were killed. The police recovered one AK-47 assault rifle, a .303 rifle and two guns, besides Rs 10,000 in cash.

The DGP said Lalitha was a graduate who worked as a teacher in a high school in Adilabad. After her marriage in 1988, she joined the People's War Group and spent four years in Dandakaranya area (a PW guerrilla zone spread over Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh), rising in rank to become an important member of the outfit.

Lalitha was responsible for numerous murders, riots, abductions and extortion incidents, police said.