HYDERABAD, India, July 3, 2010 (AFP) - Indian police said Saturday they had killed a top Maoist leader during a gunfight with the rebels in a densely forested region of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Cherukuri Rajkumar, commonly known as "Azad," was a top-ranking member of the Maoists' central committee and one of the insurgency's most prominent spokesmen.

He was shot dead by police on Friday as he was trying to cross into the neighbouring state of Maharastra, said senior Andhra Pradesh police officer P. Promod Kumar.

Associated with the Maoist movement for more than 35 years, Azad was allegedly involved in attempts on the lives of two former state chief ministers, and carried a reward of 1.2 million rupees (25,000 dollars) on his head.

He was killed three days after the Maoists shot dead 26 members of the paramilitary forces in an ambush in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh.

Maoist rebel groups have fought for decades throughout east and central India against state and government rule, drawing support from landless tribal groups and farmers left behind by the country's economic development.

Last year, the Indian government launched a major offensive to tackle the worsening left-wing insurgency, but since then the Maoists have hit back with a series of high-profile attacks.