While the police continued combing operations in search of three of the five alleged members of the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist) who had escaped after an encounter with the police in the Chapparam tribal settlement at Periya in Wayanad on Tuesday night, a team of senior police officers visited the hamlet on Friday.
A three-member team comprising K. Sethuraman, Inspector General of police, North zone; Putta Vimaladithya, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Anti-Terrorist Squad; and Thomsun Jose, DIG, Kannur Range, visited the site and assessed the situation.
Two of the five armed militants — Chandru and Unnimaya (two top cadres of the Bansura Dalam of the party) — were arrested on Tuesday. The police confiscated four arms from them including an AK47, an Indian small arms system, and two country-made guns.
The arrested are being quizzed by the top brass of the police, including their counterparts from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
“We have intensified combing operations for the militants, who had escaped after the encounter, with the help of a helicopter and an unmanned aerial vehicle,” District Police Chief Padam Singh, whose operations led to the arrest of the two Maoists, told The Hindu.
Search for the remaining members is on the tri-junction of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with the support of anti-Naxal squads, Mr Singh said.
The anti-Naxal squad of the Karnataka Police has also intensified search for the outlaws in Kutta, Gonikoppal and Makkootam areas. Meanwhile, Wayanad District Collector Renu Raj said the district administration would adopt steps to tackle the recurring Maoist threat. Directions had been issued to officials to address issues facing tribal people and plantation workers in a time-bound manner, Ms. Raj said.
“We have brought issues facing tribal and plantation workers to the attention of the government, and it will be sorted out as per the government’s direction,” she added.
