Eight persons, including five Special Auxiliary Police personnel and an assistant sub-inspector, were killed and three others seriously injured in a heavy exchange of fire between the police and banned Maoist activists at Raniganj in Bihar's Gaya district on Thursday.

A police team rushed to the Raniganj branch of the Punjab National Bank [Get Quote] in Gaya district after receiving information about armed men encircling the bank, deputy inspector general (Magadh Range) Praveen Basistha said.

When they reached the spot, the activists of the ultra-Left outfit started firing indiscriminately at the policemen, leading to the encounter, he said.

While four SAP personnel died on the spot, another who sustained gun-shot wounds was declared dead at the A N Medical hospital in Gaya, Basistha said.

An assistant sub inspector, a bank customer and a naxalite were also killed in the heavy exchange of fire.

The naxalites also looted five self-loading rifles from the SAP jawans, he said. The three injured were sent to the hospital for treatment.

Senior police officials were camping at the spot to oversee the combing operation in the forests to nab the ultras.