Kerala to talk with K'taka, TN on Maoist menace

Kerala is set to initiate talks with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to devise strategies to tackle presence of Maoists in the state’s northern districts.

Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala informed the Assembly on Monday that talks would be held with home ministers of the two neighbouring states.  Chennithala’s statement comes a day after the “Thunderbolts”, a commando force under the state police, and suspected Maoist insurgents exchanged fire at Chappa colony in Vellamunda, Wayanad district.

The past couple of years has seen the state government intensifying combing operations in forests that fall in the tri-junction of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The home minister told reporters later that Maoist presence had been reported in the state’s five (northern) districts.

“Maoists have traditionally taken up social issues to expand their base but there is no local support for the movement,” Chennithala said.