Wayanad: Acting on an intelligence report, the home department has decided to beef up the security of five police stations in Mananthavadi taluk in the district.
According to Mananthavadi DySP P L Shyju, the decision to increase the security measures was based on intelligence reports police stations are under threat from Maoists.
On September 28, a group of Maoists attacked the office of Kerala Forest Development Corporation (KFDC) at Kambamala. Since then Maoist cadres were sighted regularly at Kambamala tea plantations.
Thalappuzha, Thirunelli, Thondarnad, Vellamunda and Padinjarethara police stations are on the red list, police sources said. Additional forces have been deployed in these stations since the intelligence alert came, sources said.
Maoists visit Makkimala resort
Meanwhile, a five-member Maoist cadre, which visited Kambamala last month, was reportedly spotted at a resort at Makkimala in the early hours of Wednesday.
According to reports, the group spent almost one-and-a-half hours at the resort and returned after collecting rice and provisions. The Maoists also got their mobiles charged and sent out a press release from an unknown mobile number to the media in the name of the CPI Maoist Kabani area committee.
The release has accused some CPM leaders of spreading calumny against Maoists among the labourers.
Aerial surveillance suspended
Police on Wednesday suspended the aerial surveillance using a helicopter due to bad weather. On Tuesday, the helicopter with a team of officials including district police chief Padam Singh flew around the Kambamala area covering Thalappuzha, Makkimala, Periya, Thirunelli, Padinjarethara and Kunhome areas.
In the 90-minute sortie, the Aralam forest zone of Kannur district and the Ambalappara area on the Kerala-Karnataka border also were covered, sources said.
The first trial of the aerial surveillance was held on Monday. However, it was aborted soon due to tough weather conditions.
