COIMBATORE: Following information about possible Maoist infiltration from Kannur in Kerala, Coimbatore district (rural) police have intensified surveillance at the 14 checkposts and towns on the state border in the district.
Superintendent of police V Badrinarayanan said the measures were taken after information from Kerala counterparts that two suspected Maoists, who had sustained bullet injuries in a gun battle with the Thunderbolts team in Kannur district on November 13 morning, might have entered Tamil Nadu for treatment. Though there was no extremist movement in Tamil Nadu, police intensified surveillance to arrest them if they entered Tamil Nadu, he said.
As many as 160 armed police personnel have been deployed at the 14 border checkposts. They will be checking every vehicle that enters Tamil Nadu from Kerala. Further, all hospitals and clinics in the border towns and semi-urban areas have been instructed to contact police if anyone approached them with bullet injuries. The medical shops too were directed to share details of persons trying to buy medicines to treat bullet injuries. Further, police teams are checking lodges and other accommodations in the border areas to find out if suspects are staying there.
On Friday, Badrinarayanan explained about the security arrangements to collector Kranthi Kumar Pati. IG (West zone) K Bhavaneeswari also held a meeting with the superintendents of police of Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tiruppur, and Erode districts to review the security arrangements.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Q branch police approached Thunderbolt Special Forces in Kerala to get additional information about the recent exchange of fire. Along with the Naxal Special Division (NSD), the district police intensified the combing operations in the reserve forest areas between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Similarly, the Nilgiris police have also been placed on alert as the district shares borders with Kerala and Karnataka, sources said.