A panel set up by Congress to look into Friday's encounter between security forces and the Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bastar area has said that the encounter "seemed to be fake" and demanded CBI enquiry into the incident.

Nineteen Naxals were killed in the encounter in Sukma-Bjjapur area on June 29. State Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel said here today that the 12-member panel was yet to submit its report, but it "seemed from the inspection of the spot that it was a fake encounter.

"The panel has sought a CBI probe, he said, adding that the probe panel found that there were some women and children among those slain at Sarkeguda village of Basaguda area. Police had claimed to have killed 17 ultras there.

Chief Minister Raman Singh, however, refuted the allegations, saying that weapons and ammunition were found alongside bodies of the Naxals killed in the encounter.

Also read on rediff.com: Anti-Naxal operations: A monumental blunder in Chhattisgarh