KOCHI: The outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) has lamented the death of Kuppu Devaraj, a member of the central committee, as a heavy loss to the party. Devaraj along with woman party activist Ajitha was killed in an encounter with security forces in the forests of Nilambur in Kerala on December 24 last year. A condolence message released on January 1 by party spokesman Abhay provides a detailed description of the role played by Devaraj in setting up Maoist operations in the tri-junction of the Western Ghats comprising Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for the past six years.
“The loss of comrade Devaraj in the fake encounter is a heavy loss to the party that had started to consolidate the masses in the area of Trijunction,” the statement said. “Western Ghats have the potential to hand over a new experience to the revolutionary movement in the country. So the central and the state governments conspired, caught Devaraj and another senior activist, comrade Ajitha, and killed them in a fake encounter,” it added. The statement, however, remained silent on the circumstances of their capture and killing by the security agencies.
