MALAPPURAM: Five days after two ultras were killed in a bloodied encounter, a seven-member Maoist gang was sighted at a colony of the forest dwellers in Nilambur, about five km from the encounter site, on Tuesday. The armed team, including CPI(Maoist) south zonal committee member Vikram Gowda, Soman and Sundari, reportedly resurfaced at Cholanaiykar colony at Mannala, near Karimbuzha, Nilambur.
Confirming their presence, the anti-naxal squad at the Nilambur forest said the insurgents had visited the area in the night on Monday, and vowed to take revenge on the killings of their two leaders.
The police said the gang had told the colony dwellers that they would regroup and give a fitting reply to the government and the police when an opportunity arrives. “They said the deaths of Kuppu Devaraj and Ajitha would not diminish their spirit, and that they would retaliate with weapons. The Maoist team revealed that none was injured in the police attack, and sought the support of the tribesmen to begin an armed revolution against the government,” the police said. The gang spent about two hours in the area before returning to the woods with rice and other essential commodities from the tribal area. The police said high alerts were issued to forest stations following the report.
Cremation put off till Saturday
Manjeri Principal Sessions Court on Tuesday stayed the cremation of Maoist leaders Kuppu Devaraj and Ajitha till December 5. Passing the order, the court sought the opinion of the government and the police. The order came on a petition filed by the brother of Kuppu and the members of the Janakeeya Manushayavakash Prasthanam, seeking a stay on the cremation.
A detailed hearing of the case is posted to December 9. The plea requested for a detailed investigation into the killing of the leaders. The petitioners expressed their resentment at asking the same person who carried out the inquest to do the magisterial probe.
The relatives of the Kuppu and Ajitha have planned to approach High Court asking for a re-postmortem on the duo. The inquest had showed that Ajitha and Kuppu had multiple gunshot wounds, but their dresses never carried any mark of the gun shots.