Some of the top Maoist leaders in KeralaThiruvananthapuram: The Kerala police are on the lookout for 57 armed Maoists operating in the state, including 23 women. Most of these guerillas carry a bounty on their heads announced by the state governments in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for murder, loot and other crimes.
Armed Maoists had a free run in Kerala for at least three years before the police gunned down the first targets on Thursday. The first armed guerilla group was sighted in Wayanad in February 2013.
As many as 57 top Maoist leaders have found a safe haven in the forests of Kerala. Their field of operation sometimes extends to the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka forests that adjoin the state, central intelligence agencies tipped off the Kerala police in December 2014. The intelligence report came along with pictures of the top brass of the banned outfit.
At least 11 of them have been sighted in combat gear inside the Kozhikode forest range by tribesmen or other residents in the area. The others have visited Kerala multiple times, the state police intelligence confirmed. An eight-member guerilla gang had shot at the Thunderbolts commandos in Wayanad three years ago.
Vikram Gowda aka Sreekanth, Geetha aka Sundari, Latha aka Mundagaru Latha, Mahesh aka Jayanna, Mallika aka Kavitha, Kanyakumari aka Suvarna, Raveendra, A S Suresh and Jagannatha aka Umesh are the top Maoists who are most active in Kerala. They retreat to their base along the forested border of Kerala after taking part in operations elsewhere.
After February 2013, armed guerillas have been spotted in many places in Kerala. It took them to barge into a police constable’s house at Vellamunda in Wayanad and torch his motorbike in April 2015 for the state police to understand the gravity of the situation.
More drama followed at a top-level meeting called for by the then chief minister Oommen Chandy to discuss the threat. Director general of Police K S Balasubramanian rubbed Chandy the wrong way when he asked for permission to fire at the armed rebels. The chief minister retorted that the government could intervene only if the police had to face any legal hurdles in dealing with the rebels.
Former Tamil Nadu director general of police Vijayakumar, who had led the operation that gunned down forest brigand Veerappan, also wondered what prevented the senior officers from ordering firing. Vijayakumar had attended the meeting as an adviser to the central home ministry.
However, no top cop dared to order his personnel to fire at the Maoists. The Thunderbolt commandos had been going on routine trekking trips through the forests.
The scene has changed now. The police have shot down two Maoist leaders after getting orders from the above. The police have also formed an anti-Naxal squad by drawing 236 personnel from different battalions. This force had been put under the command of the superintendents of police of the northern districts but many of its members have managed to get transferred to some other posts using their influence.
As many as 168 Maoists have made the forests of Wayanad and Malappuram districts their second home, state intelligence department has estimated. At least 24 of them had been identified by their names. The intelligence sleuths also suspect that they possess explosives and firearms including AK 47s.
The jungles of Wayanad where Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu meet provide a safe haven for Maoists. They do not have much of a leeway in Tamil Nadu or Karnataka as any presence is dealt with an iron hand. The guerillas found forests within Kerala much safer as the police hesitated from firing at them. That perspective seems to have changed with the encounters in Nilambur.
