ALAPPUZHA: With posters by CPI (Maoist) Western Ghat committee appearing on various parts of Mavelikkara taluk recently, the state police have intensified its search operations in Alappuzha district.
The posters, as part of the 10th anniversary of the organisation, called on patrons to array behind the party and to defeat the armed forces sponsored by the rulers. The same posters appeared at Kurathikad on Saturday.
The Maoists have been trying to get a firm foothold in various parts of the district, and the proxy poster war is their means of making their presence felt, police sources said.
Mavelikkara Circle Inspector Jose Mathew said that the police have registered cases in connection with issue and are scouring the district for Maoist rebels.
The wall posters and notices in the name of the banned organisation had appeared on Saturday evening in Kurathikad, he said.
The posters had earlier appeared at Vallikunnam panchayat on October 31. The poster was found on the walls at the Market Junction, Malamel, at Vallikunnam.
The police tore down the posters soon after the news about the posters came out.
New posters appeared on Sunday in support of the standing strike staged by the Adivasi Gothra Mahas Sabha in Thiruvananthapuram, which has crossed 100 days.
The poster censured the government for turning a blind eye to the grievances of adivasis and farmers.
It also alleged the government of squandering crores of rupees in the name of tourism development, even as the tourist resorts owned by a few elite class exploited the biodiversity. A picture of the Adivasi march was also printed on the posters.
On December 2012, some of the of Maoist activists were held for conducting a clandestine meeting at a lodge in Mavelikkara.
The Mavelikkara police had arrested Rajesh (34) of Rajesh Bhavan in Karivelil Mankamkuzhi in Mavelikara, Shiyas (23), of Mananvilakara in Kazhakkottam in Thiruvananthapuram, Bahuleyan (50) of Charuvila of Njarayilkonam, Devarajan (50), of Kaipuzha in Mayyanad in Kollam district and, Gopal (52), resident of Rajilpakkom in Chennai and a retired scientist of the Kalpakkom Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre in this connection. Six mobile phones and a laptop were also seized.
Two girls were also arrested in this connection. The arrest of the girls were become controversy after they alleged that the police had misbehaved the minor girls and the girls alleged that the Additional Sub inspector of the station K Y Damian was misbehaved with them. Later the SI was found hanging near a tree at his house premises in Cherukol near Mannar.
