Identity of Maoists yet to be confirmed: Kerala police

Even as a local court in Palakkad on Monday allowed the Kerala police to carry on with their plans for the bodies of four Maoists killed in Palakkad forest areas, the police sources said they were yet to confirm the identities of three of them.

Palakkad district police chief Shiv Vikram told DH that the identity of only Manivasakam could be confirmed so far. The pictures of three other bodies, including a woman, would be published and the national databases would be checked to confirm their whereabouts. The final confirmation would be done through DNA tests.

The initial reports said that the deceased were Karthik from Karnataka and Sreemathi and Suresh from Tamilnadu. But later the police stated that Karthik was also from Tamilnadu and the other two were Rema and Aravind. Though some persons claiming to be relatives turned up, they could not confirm the identities of the bodies.