KOZHIKODE: Since October, senior police officers of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been in constant touch with each other detailing out a comprehensive plan to thwart the attempts by CPI-Maoists to establish an operative zone in the forests of tri-junction spanning across three southern states.
And the Thursday’s encounter was the fallout of a detailed action plan by the three state forces which they gave shape at a high-level meeting held in Ernakulam in October to combat the increasing presence of Maoists in the forests of Nilambur and Wayanad.
“It was certain that senior Maoist leaders have been camping in tri junction forests. There were clear inputs because Maoist group carry arms only when senior leaders were moving around. Maoists also organised a secret meeting in Wayanad on September 14. There was reliable information that Maoists from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were using the tri-junction area as hideout.
Central intelligence agencies have also warned of infiltration by Maoists into the state in the wake of joint ambush operation launched by Odisha Police and Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh against Maoists,” said a top police officer.
Kerala Police has been scouting for certain Maoist agents in the region after the insurgents threatened a few locals for acting as informers for the police.
The tri-junction forest area has been emerging as a hot bed after Maoists openly started exhibiting their influence in the region by coming out with frequent press releases and publishing Chenkad, (Red Forest), an official mouthpiece of the Nadukani squad of the CPI-Maoist.
The latest Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) report also warned of the rising influence of CPI (Maoists) in the region. The MHA report for the year 2015-16 said the Maoists were trying to open a new region for active military operations in tri-junction of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “The CPI (Maoist) is not only undertaking organisational restructuring to consolidate its position in the existing areas, it is also trying to carve out a base for themselves in the tri-junction of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Though the CPI (Maoist) has not achieved much success on this front due to implementation of a well-formulated action plan, the efforts of the CPI (Maoist) to open a new theatre in south India is a cause for serious concern. The Central Government is closely monitoring the situation and sensitising the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to keep a check on the activities of the CPI (Maoist),” the report said.