Kerala Police personnel and suspected Maoists exchanged fire in the jungles of Wayanad district on Sunday. The firing lasted about 20 minutes but preliminary reports said that nobody had been hurt. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala confirmed the incident. This was probably the first direct encounter between the police and Maoists in Kerala.
The firing between commandos of Thunderbolt, a Kerala Police battalion of specially trained personnel, and the Maoists took place in the forest near an Adivasi colony coming in the Vellamunda Police Station area in Wayanad district. The police had reportedly fired 30 rounds at the Maoists and they had fired back eight rounds.
However, the leftist extremists managed to escape into the dense jungle. Additional Thunderbolt personnel had been deployed in the particular forest area and the police stations in the region had been put on high alert.
The incident occurred after the commandos reached the area on the basis of secret information about Maoists’ appearance near the Adivasi colony. Anti-Maoist operations had started in the jungles of Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts long back. Sources in the police said the incident confirmed the presence of armed Maoists in the State.