KOCHI: Three suspected Maoists are feared dead in an exchange of fire with Kerala police at Palakkad on Monday morning. Police sources said the firing took place at Manchakatti in Palakkad when Thunderbolt commando team of Kerala Police was conducting a combing operation based on an input that a few Maoists were using the forest as a hideout.
Senior police officers have rushed to the spot and more details are awaited. Police have not revealed the identity of the deceased and a search is on for the remaining people who were in the group.
Kerala Police have been fighting the emergence of Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) in the state in the last couple of years and the latest incident has put the focus on Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (KKT) tri-junction where Maoists have been establishing a presence.
The Ministry of Home Affairs' assessment of the LWE violence in Kerala has been worrying as no violence was reported in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu while 23 incidents were reported in Kerala between 2014 and 2017.