Approximately two dozen members of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the militant arm of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), are suspected to be active in the forests of north Kerala.
Top sources told The Hindu that some of the members attached to the two dalams (armed squads) namely Banasura and Kabani, operating under the Southern Regional Bureau of the CPI (Maoist), had already been identified. Among them are C.P. Moideen, a zonal committee member commanding the Western Ghats, who remain elusive. Many others adopt assumed names to stay incognito.
Gunfight with police
Recent developments include the identification of two suspected CPI (Maoist) members apprehended at Periya, Wayanad, on November 7 following a gunfight with the Kerala Police’s Special Operations Group and Thunderbolt commandos. Srimathi, aka Unnimaya, and Chandru are associated with the Banasura dalam, while Thambi, aka, Anish Babu, arrested later in Koyilandy, Kozhikode, was part of the Kabani dalam. Chandru, hailing from Pollachi in Tamil Nadu, served as a unit commander.
Since 2008-2009, the meeting point of Gudalur, Wayanad, Nilambur, Kodaikanal, Udupi, and Dakshina Kannada has been a haven for the CPI (Maoist). But now the anti-naxal forces of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have intensified surveillance in the region. Last month, the Union government issued alerts to police forces in the States regarding the CPI (Maoist)‘s efforts to fortify the Western Ghats Special Zonal Committee.
‘Districts of concern’
Earlier, the Left Wing Extremism Division of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs designated Malappuram, Palakkad, and Wayanad as districts of concern, incorporating them into the Security Related Expenditure Scheme aimed at tackling the ‘Maoists’. Agencies now suspect that forest areas in Kannur are equally vulnerable to ‘Maoist’ operations.
The Kerala Police have not dismissed the possible involvement of the Banasura dalam in the recent attack on the Kambamala Forest Division Office, the vandalisation of CCTV at a tribal colony, and attacks on Forest department officials near the Aralam farm. These groups often resort to violence when their radicalised leaders perceive a waning influence in the region, sources said.
In other States
The CPI (Maoist) is already facing reversals in the Dandakaranya-Chhattisgarh-Odisha region and the tri-junction area of Jharkhand-Bihar-West Bengal. In June, the Jharkhand Police, Central Reserve Police Force, and Jharkhand Jaguar Force collectively dismantled the CPI (Maoist) ‘headquarters’ at Sarjomburu village in West Singhbhum district.
