Kerala suspected Maoists encounter | Intensified vehicle checks continue at T.N.-Karnataka border

Intensified vehicle checks at Tamil Nadu’s border with Karnataka at three places in Erode district continued for the third consecutive day, to prevent suspected Maoists from escaping.

A Kerala police special forces Thunderbolt team exchanged fire with suspected Maoists in the  Uruppumkutty forest in Karikkottakary, in Kerala on November 13, after which five suspected Maoists escaped into the forest area. Of the five, A. Sathosh alias Ramesh is from Pollachi taluk and K. Vasanth alias Ramesh is from Ranipet. The other two are from Kerala and one is from Karnataka.

Following the incident, security has been enhanced in the States while the district police strengthened security at the check-posts at Karapallam, near Hasanur, Bargur in Anthiyur taluk and at Bharathipuram in Talavadi. 

Vehicles, both personal and commercial entering Tamil Nadu from Karnataka and exiting, are being checked round-the-clock. Also, people living in villages on the inter-State border areas in Talavadi and Bargur Hills were shown the photographs of the Maoists and were asked to alert the police if they saw them, or saw strangers in their vicinity.