Police action, infighting and eroding local support likely forced Maoist leader Vikram Gowda to flee Wayanad

There had been no reported sightings of Vikram Gowda in Wayanad for over a year

Intensified patrols by the police and anti-Naxal squads in suspected Maoist territories in Kerala may have compelled senior Naxal commander to abandon the tri-junction area bordering Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu and flee to other areas.

Reports said Gowda has been killed in an anti-Naxal operation at Hebri Kabvinale, in the Uduppi district of Karnataka.

According to a senior police official, a joint operation by the governments of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, the internal divisions among Naxal factions, and a decline in civilian support, contributed to Gowda’s retreat to Karnataka. Notably, there had been no reported sightings of him in Wayanad for over a year.

Since 2016, the Kerala Police have recorded the deaths of four Maoists in encounters, alongside the arrests of three leaders. Among those killed were Koppam Devarajan, a member of the CPI (Maoist) central committee, and Ajita, also known as Kaveri, during a confrontation with the Thunderbolt commandos in Malappuram district’s Padukka forest in 2016.

In 2019, suspected Maoist C.P. Jaleel was killed in Wayanad, and a year later, Velmurugan, 32, from Tamil Nadu, died in an encounter on the Banasura hills in Wayanad.

Recently, Maoist propaganda posters indicated that a female cadre, Kavitha, alias Lakshmi, was killed in an encounter at Uruppukutty, Kannur district, on November 13, 2023.

The arrest of Roopesh, leader of the ‘Western Ghats Special Zonal Committee,’ along with his wife Shyna and three other cadres, near Coimbatore in May 2015, marked a significant setback for the Maoists in the tri-junction area. Intelligence from the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh police supported this operation.

Further, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Kerala Police has made several recent arrests, including that of one Manoj from Thrissur, who is reportedly linked to a banned Maoist outfit operating in Wayanad, and Soman from Kalpetta, a leader of a local ‘dalam’, who was apprehended at the Shoranur railway station. Additionally, C.P. Moideen, a brother of the late C.P. Jaleel, was arrested in Alappuzha, further disrupting Maoist activities in the region, police sources say.

The last sighting of Maoists in Wayanad was reported on April 24, 2024 at Kambamala, where Moideen allegedly led a four-member group urging tea estate workers to “boycott” the Lok Sabha elections.

Some workers have expressed their concerns over the recurring sightings of Maoists in the area, reflecting growing tensions within the local community.

“But their activities are clearly on the decline,” said a senior police officer.

Published - November 19, 2024 01:13 pm IST