At least three Communist Party of India-Maoist extremists were killed in a fierce encounter with security forces at Indragiri hill of Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district in the early hours of Tuesday, the police said.

• Jehanabad signals deeper malaise

Of the three extremists killed, two bodies were recovered and their identities are yet to be ascertained, according to Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar Singh.

The encounter started at about 4 am.

Meanwhile, the Superintendent of Police of Jehanabad Sunil Kumar was Tuesday placed under suspension on the charge of dereliction of duty in the wake of Sunday night's naxalite attack in Jehanabad. B S Meena, the police chief of Rohtas district will be the new SP of Jehanabad, official sources said.

The police chief of Jehanabad Kumar was under attack for his failure to prevent the naxalite onslaught, which left 13 dead. 383 inmates of Jehanabad jail were either set free or kidnapped by the marauders during the attack.

Bihar Home Secretary H C Sirohi had Monday said IG (Operations) R R Verma had at 3 pm on Sunday informed IG (Central zone) A S Nimbran and SP Jehanabad about a possible attack by the underground extremists.

While announcing an administrative inquiry into the incident by a two-member panel including Secretary-cum- Commissioner of water resources department V Jaishanker and IG (Railways) A C Verma, Sirohi had said it would also look into the administrative failure leading to the attack.

Raids are being carried out on the borders of Hazaribagh and Chatra districts. Following the November 11 attack on Homeguard Training Centre in Giridih and the daring "jail-break operation" in Jehanabad by the CPI-Maoist on Sunday, Jharkhand has been on a high alert with security being beefed up at all police lines and possible escape routes.