Seven persons -- three police personnel and four civilians -- were killed when Maoists attacked Chilakaluripet police station in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh late on Friday night.

The Maoist attack on the police station was in apparent retaliation to an encounter in Manala forests in Nizamabad district in which 10 Maoists were killed by Greyhounds on March 7.

Friday night's attack was the biggest since the peace talks between the Maoists and the government broke down in January this year.

Guntur District Superintendent of Police Jitender Goyal told rediff.com that those killed in the surprise attack included a circle inspector, a head constable, a constable and a home guard.

A suspect who was called to the police station for routine questioning, the mother of a sub-inspector and an attender who had come to collect intermediate examination papers from the police station were among the dead.

A group of 20 to 30 Maoists, including 10 women cadres, came in a jeep and another vehicle around 11 pm. They attacked the police station located in the center of the town with bombs and grenades.

Circle Inspector C R Prasad and Sub-inspector R Dharmendra [Images] Babu, who were interrogating a suspect, were taken unawares.

As they ran for life, the Maoists chased the circle inspector and hacked him to death. The sub-inspector, however, managed to escape.

The Maoists mounted a simultaneous attack on the police quarters behind the police station in which the mother of the sub-inspector was shot dead. Three other persons  were injured in the attack.

Superintendent of Police Jitender Goyal rushed to Chilakaluripet with a large contingent of police personnel.