JOIN USEven as Maoists are observing “Martyr’s Week” from Monday, in an apparent acknowledgement of their depleted strength, the country’s security establishment believes that the extremists are still capable of “sensational attacks”.
The establishment fears that the extremists might step up attacks this week across the country. Every year, the CPI(Maoist) observes Martyr’s Week from July 28 to August 3 to pay homage to cadres killed in police firing.
Security has been stepped up in all the Maoist-affected states as the ultras started the observance this year, and the security agencies have arrested five people, including a Swiss national, over the past couple of days.
Among those arrested is 24-year-old Swiss national Jonathan Bold, who allegedly attended a function in Kerala organised in memory of Maoist activist Thalikkulam Vethukkad Sinoj, who was killed while making bombs along the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border last month.
The police claimed that they have recovered Maoist literature from Bold, who had come to India on a tourist visa with a woman companion. He has been in Kerala since July 10 on a tourist visa. Bold, who claimed to be a history enthusiast, came to Thrissur from Kannur after reading newspaper reports about the event.