An encounter broke out between Kerala Police Thunderbolts special forces team and Maoists in Wayanad on Tuesday night, reported PTI quoting sources as saying. The gun fight took place in a forest area under the limits of Thalappuzha police after the Kerala police teams had earlier launched a combing operation in the area.
The combing operation was based on intelligence inputs received from a Maoist sympathiser apprehended earlier in the day in neighbouring Kozhikode district, the PTI report added.
During the operation, Maoists had opened fire at the Special Operation Group (SOG) and the Thunderbolt Squad — both elite commando forces of the state police — and the force retaliated.
There was no immediate information on casualties, the report added.
Two Maoists, a man and a woman, were apprehended during the operations, said the police, as per the PTI report, who were identified as Chandru and Unnimaya, while three other members mangaed to escape from the scene.
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An AK-47 assault rifle and two country-made breach-loading shotguns were recovered from the suspects by the special forces.
The Thunderbolts team had been deployed in an area domination exercise in the region, after local people reported the presence of armed non-state actors in Kambala and nearby regions, stated the Hindu report.
Helicopters and drones were deployed by the police in the area to conduct an aerial survey of the locality in October. The alleged Maoists sourced provisions from a tea-estate settlement in the locality, the police said.
The group was subsequently tentatively identified asCommunist Party of India (Maoist) Kabani area committee. The police suspect that some armed irregulars had managed to break the siege and flee in the cover of relative darkness. They have heightened vigil in Lakkdi, Nilambur, Nadukani Churam, Thamassrasery and Meppadi localities, the report added.