Wayanad: The police have slapped UAPA against five Maoists for attacking the KFDC office on Thursday at Kambamala, Thalappuzha.

A 6-member gun-wielding group attacked the office of the Kerala Financial Development Corporation (KFDC) at Kambamala at 12:30 pm on Thursday.

 Confirming the Maoist link behind the attack on the KFDC office, police said in a press statement that among the six persons who had participated in the attack, five were identified as Maoist cadres, against whom  UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention) Act has been slapped. Those identified were CP Moideen, Soman, Santhosh, Vimalkumar and Manoj alias Ashique. Vimalkumar is a native of Tamil Nadu. Manoj, a native of Thrissur had joined the Maoist cadre within one year. The  Thunderbolt Commandos are still on with the combing operations for the Maoist  cadres in the forest zones around Kambamala, police said. 

The Kambamala tea plantation under the KFDC was established decades ago in order to rehabilitate the Tamil repatriates who came to India following a pact between India and Sri Lanka.

Many incidents of Maoist cadres visiting the Tamil repatriate families here have been reported in the past.

At the time of the incident, there were few employees in the KFDC office. According to them, the entire pandemonium ended within 30 minutes. The group retreated after strewing the documents around and breaking glasses of the cabin.

Police have cordoned the area. Combing operation by ThunderBolt commandos was also launched as per the orders of SP Padam Singh who rushed to the spot.

DIG North Zone Thomson Jose also has started for Kambamala.