COIMBATORE: Amid the disappearance of trap cameras installed for the wildlife census in Coimbatore’s Anaikatti reserve forest, footage has emerged from another camera, showing armed men moving in the forest. The development comes against the backdrop of intelligence inputs about the movement of Maoists along the State border.
Based on a complaint from the Forest Department about the missing cameras, the district police are investigating whether people who trespassed into the forest stole them, fearing they had been caught on camera. The department recently set up the cameras in the region bordering Kerala to assess the tiger population. A couple of days ago, some of them went missing from near the villages of Sembukkarai and Moola Gangal. Another camera accessed by forest staff reportedly showed a group of armed men in the forest. Forest Department sources said it is unclear whether these men are poachers or Maoists.
A police officer said the forest staff had only lodged a complaint about the missing cameras and did not say anything about the movement of strangers in the forest. “We are only investigating about the cameras now,” the officer said. “The trap cameras start recording when they identify movement. People who trespassed and feared their identities were recorded may have stolen the cameras,” a police source said.
Combing ops underway in Kovai, Nilgiris dists
Aga inst the backdrop of intelligence inputs suggesting Maoist movement, the police have intensified combing operations in the forests of Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts.
But a senior West Zone police official denied the reports, saying the intelligence inputs were about Maoists in the Wayanad forest area of Kerala. “However, surveillance has been stepped up at checkposts, and combing operations are underway to prevent untoward situations,” the official said.
The Wayanad forest area is adjacent to the tri-junction (borders with Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka), where Maoists have been trying to recruit cadre and establish a base. The National Investigation Agency (NINIA) had on Tuesday conducted simultaneous searches at several places in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. Three Maoist sympathisers’ houses were searched in Coimbatore, and the search was said to be part of an investigation into the case of an alleged Maoist training camp conducted by the CPI (Maoist) in the Nilambur forests in Kerala in 2016.
Meanwhile, intelligence sources confirmed that the search was carried out following specific inputs about a training programme aimed at indoctrinating youth in these three States with the Maoist ideology.
‘Inputs on KL forests’
A senior West Zone police official denied reports of Maoist movement in the area, saying the intelligence inputs were about Maoists in the Wayanad forest area of Kerala. “However, surveillance has been stepped up at checkposts, and combing operations are underway to prevent untoward situations”