2 weeks ago
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Suspected Maoists and Thunderbolt commandos exchanged gunfire inside the Makkimala forest under the North Wayanad forest division on Tuesday.
The incident came to light after tea estate workers informed estate officials that they heard nine rounds of gunshots from adjacent forest area where the thunderbolt commandos were engaged in combing operations for the past six days. A four-member team of the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI (Maoist)] visited the workers of Kambamala tea estate on April 23 and asked them to boycott the parliamentary elections.
After the workers entered into an altercation with them, the suspected Maoists reportedly entered the Makkimala forest. The police attached to the Thalappuzha and Mananthavady stations as well as Kerala Thunderbolt commandos had intensified combing operations in the area since then.
In September 2023, a five-member suspected Maoist group vandalised the office of the Kerala Forest Development Corporation (KFDC) at Kambamala. They reportedly destroyed a surveillance camera installed by the police in the area to monitor the movements of the banned outfit.
The Kambamala tea estate, bordering Kottiyoor and Periya forest ranges in Wayanad and Kannur districts respectively, was established in the 1970s to rehabilitate repatriates from Sri Lanka. More than 200 families stay on the estate. However, the police sources said the Maoists first opened fire at the Thunderbolt team, following which the commandos fired back in retaliation.
