THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the Centre has taken note of the attempts being made by the extremist outfits to form a base in its forests, the state is yet to receive the tag of naxal affected state as there were no major casualties in their attacks.
According to a latest annual report of ministry of home affairs, the CPI (Maoist) is trying to create a base in the "tri-junction" of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the centre was closely monitoring the situation and sensitise the state governments. In the previous annual reports, there had been not even any mention of the naxal threats in state even as a series of Maoist attacks and an encounter were reported.
“The CPI (Maoist) is not only undertaking organisational restructuring to consolidate its position in the existing areas, it is also trying to carve out a base for themselves in the southern states. Though the CPI (Maoist) has not achieved much success on this front due to implementation of a well formulated action plan, the efforts of the CPI (Maoist) to open a new theatre in south India is a cause for serious concern. The Government of India is closely monitoring the situation and sensitising the state governments of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to keep a check on the activities of the CPI (Maoist)," said the annual report released recently.
Though the state had been seeking the centre's support for combating the naxal menace, the centre declined it citing that Kerala could not be considered as a naxal-hit state as per the norms. "We had been urging that the security and social development schemes for naxal hit states may be also extended to Kerala so that the menace could be nipped in the bud. But the centre has been turning it down," said a senior IPS officer.
As per the MHA report, 1088 naxal violences were reported in the country in 2015 in which 226 were killed. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha are among the worst affected states.
