The Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Thunderbolt Squad of the Kerala Police are continuing combing operations in rural Kozhikode and the Periya forest region following an encounter between Thunderbolt commandos and Maoists in Wayanad district of Kerala on November 7, 2023 night.
The Thunderbolt Squad had taken into custody two Maoists from a house near Chapparam colony in Periya, Wayanad, around 10.30 p.m. on November 7. The arrested, identified as Chandru and Unnimaya, were part of a group of Maoists that was collecting food from the house that belonged to a taxi driver.
The SOG and the Thunderbolt had followed the Maoists to the house based on intelligence inputs from Thambi, aka Anish Babu, a Maoist sympathiser who was earlier arrested from Koyilandy in Kozhikode.
The two groups exchanged fire, and one of the two Maoists who escaped is suspected to have sustained injuries in the firing. The squad also confiscated two AK-47 rifles.
All the arrested persons are suspected to be part of Kabani Dalam, a Maoist unit that functions in Wayanad and Kannur districts.
Thambi has been moved to the SOG headquarters at Areekode in Malappuram district for further questioning.
