Wayanad: ADGP (North Zone) M R Ajith Kumar on Wednesday said Kerala police will continue its fight against left extremism in the state. In a hastily called press conference after apprehending two Maoist cadres – Chandru (35) of Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, and Unnimaya (31) of Chikmagalur, Karnataka – from the house of a farmer on the fringes of the forest at Chapparam Colony near Periya, Mananthavadi, the ADGP said there were only four in the group, of whom two women escaped. "We suspect one of the escaped cadres is Sundari, who is wanted,” he said.
The commandos surrounded the house of the farmer based on a tip-off and there was firing from both sides, he said, adding that an AK 47, one INSAS Light Machine Gun (LMG) and two country-made guns were recovered from the Maoists' possession.
"The state police have been adopting various strategies and modifying them in tune with the changing times to quell left extremism in the state. It was the combined operations of various state and central government agencies that yielded the result,” said the ADGP.
However, Kumar evaded questions on the link between Aneesh alias Thambi, an alleged member of the 'courier team' of Maoist informers, who was arrested from Kozhikode on Tuesday. "That arrest was based on a case registered at Kozhikode,” he said, denying any link between his arrest and the night raids at the house in Kurichia tribal settlement at Chapparam, where the Maoists frequented.
Mystery in role of informer
Though Ajith Kumar ruled out any link between the arrest of Thambi and the late-night raids at the tribal settlement, it is widely believed that the latter had revealed vital information regarding the Maoist movement in the jungles of Wayanad.
Familiar with all the rendezvous and labyrinthine jungle routes of the extreme left cadres, police had issued a lookout notice against Aneesh earlier and cases were also registered against him for abetting Maoist movements in Wayanad.
Arrested Maoists produced in court
Police produced Chandru and Unnimaya before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kalpetta, which remanded the duo to five days in police custody. Police cordoned off the court premises hours before the team arrived with the accused. The cadres were brought only after regular court proceedings were over and all the staff, apart from essential employees, left the court complex.
A team headed by Ajith Kumar and District Police Chief Padam Singh interrogated the cadres in a secret spot before producing them in court.
Remanded in custody for five days, the duo was later brought to the police headquarters, and both the cadres were taken to an undisclosed spot for further interrogation. The cadres shouted pro-Maoist slogans while being shifted to the police van amid a heavy posse of police.
