Lalgarh (West Bengal), July 31 - Security forces engaged in a five-hour gunbattle with suspected Maoist rebels Friday in a forest in West Bengal's trouble-torn Lalgarh during a combing operation to find two policemen who went missing Thursday evening.

Police said the gunbattle continued for five hours near Bhulabeda forest area in Lalgarh, the headquarters of the Binpur 1 Community Development block, about 200 km west of Kolkata.

The two policemen Sabir Mollah and Kanchan Garia went missing Thursday evening from Brindabanpur locality.

'The gunbattle continued for almost five hours between the security personnel and suspected Maoist rebels. No one has been injured,' West Midnapore District Police Superintendent M.K. Verma told IANS.

But the agitating tribal body People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) claimed that three villagers had received bullet injuries in the firing.

'We've received no such report that three villagers were injured in the firing.