Two Maoists from Chikkamagaluru killed in Kerala

Team Udayavani, Oct 29, 2019, 4:59 PM IST

Chikmagaluru: Three Maoists, including two from Chikkamagaluru, were killed on Monday, October 28 in the operation by the specialised Thunderbolt squad near Attapady in Palakkad district.

The two suspects from Chikkamagaluru includes a lady identified as Srimathi from Sringeri and a man from Mudigere, whose name is not yet ascertained. It is said that while the lady joined the Maoist folds in 2008, the man joined the same in 2004 and he alone had 21 cases pending against him in Chikkamagaluru district.

However, the families of the two have been informed about their encounter and their family members will reach Kerala on Tuesday to identify the body.

A top police official told PTI that personnel of the Thunderbolt squad retaliated when shots were fired at them.

“The patrolling team was combing the deep forest area in Palakkad district. It was then the Maoists fired at them.

As per preliminary reports, three including a woman were killed in the operation,” the official said.

A bomb disposal squad and top police officials have rushed to the spot, the source said.

The special team was combing the area after a tip about Maoist presence in the area.

Locals said they heard multiple gunshots from the forest.

However, Congress MP from Palakkad V K Sreekandan said the chief minister should explain the timing of the incident and what provoked the encounter.

“When the whole state is discussing the Walayar siblings death, we would like to know what action on part of those who are dead, provoked the police to fire at them and kill them? We also doubt whether this is a suspected plot like the Wayanad killing,” he said.

A suspected Maoist leader, C P Jaleel, was killed early in March in an exchange of fire with police personnel at a resort in Wayanad which lasted several hours.

Members of Jaleel’s family have alleged that police might have caught him, brought him to the resort and killed him there.

Kerala Thunderbolts is an elite command force of the Kerala Police under the India Reserve Battalion.