Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday said that the State Government would seek the cooperation of the neighbouring States, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, in the operations to counter the menace of Maoists who had stepped up activities in the northern jungles of Kerala bordering these two States.
After an all-party meeting on the Maoist threat at Kalpetta in Wayanad district, Chennithala said that he would hold talks on the matter with his counterparts in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Maoists and the Kerala Police’s Thunderbolt commandos had reportedly exchanged fire in the jungles of Wayanad district on December 7.The Minister said that the Government was planning to intensify the welfare activities in the Adivasi regions of the Wayanad in order to prevent invasion by Maoists. As per reports, the Maoists have already set up bases in many Adivasi colonies in the forests of Wayanad, Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts cashing in on the backwardness of the tribespeople.
Chennithala said that the State and its police force were fully prepared to meet the threat of Maoists. “We are prepared. We cannot allow such activities to go on in the State,” he said, adding that he would visit the Adivasi colonies in Wayanad district where presence of Maoists was suspected on December 31 and January 1.