KOCHI: ‘Surrender or be ready for an assault.’ This is Kerala police’s message to members of CPI (Maoists) as part of their new scheme to deal with insurgents active in the state.After years of adopting a soft approach towards Maoists – only resorting to defensive tactics after Maoists attacked – the cops are going on the offensive with their ‘Surrender or Assault’ scheme. Under the scheme, Maoists will be given a time frame to surrender, failing which the cops will launch an assault via a series of offensive operations.
The state government’s move to bring in a new scheme to crush Maoists in the state clearly signals the mounting pressure it is under to act tough against insurgents in line with the Centre’s policy on Left Wing Extremism (LWE). State Police Chief Loknath Behera told ‘Express’ the police have been lenient in dealing with LWE in Kerala.
“We cannot continue like this. The state needs to act tough owing to a spurt in Maoist activities in the state. Our ‘surrender-cum-rehabilitation’ policy failed to bring desired results. Under the new scheme, we will give Maoists a chance to surrender and launch assault if they refuse. Since it is illegal to use forest areas as hideouts, we will launch offensive operations if we come across any intruder in forests,” Behera said.
The government had launched the ‘surrender-cum-rehabilitation’ policy in May last year. So far, it has seemingly evoked no response from insurgents. Intelligence officers said there are only four Malayalees in the LWE wing in Kerala. The rest of the cadre are from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. “Around 60 cadre are from outside the state which is why Maoists are not embracing the earlier scheme,” said an officer.
Following the Nilambur encounter in November 2016 in which two Maoists were killed and the Wayanad encounter in March this year where a Maoist leader was killed, Maoists sympathisers and activists, it is learnt, have been wary of the adamant anti-Maoist stand taken by the state government.
Previous scheme fails to evoke response
The government had launched the ‘surrender-cum-rehabilitation’ policy in May last year. So far, it has seemingly evoked no response from insurgents. Intelligence officers said there are only four Malayalees in the LWE wing in Kerala. The rest of the cadre are from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. This was why Maoists are not embracing the scheme, said officials.