COIMBATORE: Three groups of Maoists, each comprising seven cadre, are believed to have taken arms training at Wayanad, a forest tri-junction bordering Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and close to the Nilgiris, in the month of October.
This forced the Tamil Nadu police to review the security arrangement in the Western Ghats, and increase combing operations.
In fact, the main agenda of the Western Region Review Meet chaired by Tamil Nadu Director General of Police, TK Rajendran, discussed the arms training issue and measures to be taken to prevent Maoist movement in the region.
“In the meeting, we discussed about the Maoist movement in the Western region and the police personnel are on a high alert. As of now, there is no movement of suspected Maoists in Tamil Nadu. They were found only in Kerala and we have taken precautionary actions with the help of the Special Task Force and local police personnel,” DGP TK Rajendran, told Express.
The hub of Maoist activities revolves around a tri-junction linking the three States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka with Wayanad (Kerala), Gudalur (Tamil Nadu) and Gundur (Karnataka).
“In the month of October, three groups of Maoists, each containing seven members, were sighted at the reserve forests in Wayanad, which is a tri-junction connecting Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The Maoists were also believed to have taken arm training, where leaders from Northern India have participated," said an intelligence wing officer, requesting anonymity.
In this regard, Kerala intelligence wing had also shared the information with the Tamil Nadu intelligence wing, the officer added. In fact, to cross-verify the fact, Tamil Nadu Intelligence Wing personnel also visited the villages in the borders and had confirmed that Maoists had taken arms training in the reserve forests near Wayanad in Kerala, which is too close to Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu police were shocked to know that the Maoists had taken training in the forest areas that are too close to Tamil Nadu. At the Western Region Review meeting held at Coimbatore on Saturday, DGP Rajendran advised The Nilgiris police to strengthen security and step up combing operations.
When asked about the precautionary actions taken in the Nilgiris, Superintendent of Police, Murali Rambha, said, “We have set up 16 check posts on the Tamil Nadu- Kerala border, in which four personnel will be deployed round-the-clock. Two special teams have been deployed for combing the forest areas with the help of forest department personnel. We have not found movement of any suspected persons in the Nilgiris forest areas.”
“We have also adopted some of the tribal villages in the border, and I am personally visiting the villages daily to check for Maoist movement,” he added.