COIMBATORE: The Kerala police have recovered scripts written in Tamil and Chhattisgarhi languages and a huge haul of arms and cash from a Maoist camp after their recent encounter with the extremists at Attapadi forest in Palakkad district. Sources state that the Thunderbolt squad, which had been combing the area for Maoist presence after receiving a tip-off, came under attack and killed four Maoists in retaliatory fire. According to the West Zone Police, seven weapons -- one AK 47, three 303 calibre guns, three country-made guns, and 150 rounds of ammunition were retrieved.
The police also found Rs 69,000 cash, a laptop, pen drive and two Kindle notebooks at the site. A senior police officer noted that the scripts had instructions in Chhattisgarhi and a few other languages on how to ambush police forces on varied terrains. A separate team has been appointed to analyse the messages. “Manivasagam, who was shot dead in the firing, has mentioned in Tamil that woman cadre are sexually exploited by men. It is not clear whether he mentioned this about his group or some other group,” said the police.
Officials also stated that two Maoists, including arms trainer Deepak, went missing after the encounter. They are suspected to have sustained bullet injuries and entered Tamil Nadu to get treatment. “Deepak and his wife hail from Chhattisgarh. They had brought the 303 calibre guns to Kerala. The guns were looted at Koraput in Odisha from a police armed reserve camp a few years ago. The other weapons might have been brought from Sukma in Chhattisgarh,” said a senior police official.
Following an alert, the police are conducting an intensive search at the 31 checkposts along the State border in The Nilgiris and Coimbatore regions. “We suspect that the Maoists might have targeted the Chhattisgarh natives who work at tea plantations in Wayanad and The Nilgiris. They might have had plans to form a base there due to the large presence of workers,” said police. A similar incident took place near Karumathampatti in 2015. However, they were arrested.