Maoists have no hold in state: Mullappally Ramachandran

Kozhikode: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Mullappally Ramachandran has said that there was no need for any panic over the spotting of suspected Maoists in the forest ranges of Malabar.

He told reporters at Mananthavady on Saturday that the conditions in Kerala were not conducive for the growth of the extremists.

He, however, said, “it is true that some Maoist squads exist in the state.”

On initiating a joint combing operation by the central and state forces against the Maoists, he said it was for the state government to take decision in this regard.

A senior official of the central government will reach Kerala soon to discuss the Maoist menace, he said.

The police in Malappuram district are evaluating the situation following the firing by suspected Maoists at a forest official in the Nilambur division on Thursday evening.

Although a high-level meeting convened by the Thrissur range IG had said that Maoists were behind the firing, the police were unable to make any headway in the investigation so far.