Ranchi, Sep 3 - Seven Maoist rebels were arrested after a nearly two-hour long gun battle with security personnel in Jharkhand's Garwah district Thursday evening, police said.

The arrested rebels belong to Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), a breakaway group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), according to police.

Police raided Matoli village in Garwah district, around 160 km from Ranchi, after getting a tip-off that TPC members had gathered in the village for a meeting.

The village was surrounded and the rebels asked to surrender, but they, instead, opened fire at the police. Police retaliated, and the gun battle lasted for nearly two hours.

Police succeeded in arresting seven TPC members and seized 11 weapons, including pistols, rifles, and live cartridges, from them.

TPC is active in five districts of Jharkhand.

Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the 24 districts of Jharkhand. Nearly 1,550 people have been killed in Maoist-related violence in the last eight years.