RAIPUR: Twenty-four policemen who had gone missing after the encounter with Maoist insurgents in Dantewada district in Chattisgarh were found dead on Tuesday, a top officer said.

"Search parties have recovered all the 24 bodies from very close to the encounter site," Girdhari Nayak, inspector-general of police in the state of Chhattisgarh told Reuters, a day after fighting between the two sides.