The police, led by its Thunderbolt commando wing, conducted a wide search in the jungles of Nilambur following reports of frequent visits by Maoists to tribal hamlets near the Government Seed Garden Complex at Munderi near Nilambur.
Maoist groups had visited the hamlets of Vaniyampuzha, Iruttukuthi, and Kumbalappara in recent days and interacted with the tribespeople in spite of an enhanced presence of the police in the forest region.
The police officers supervising the Maoist operations faced embarrassment as a Maoist group emerged at a tribal colony within minutes of the police team leaving the hamlet. The frustration and anger at the intelligence failure was evident in the massive search conducted in the forest.
However, according to police sources, no trace of the ultra groups that visited the tribespeople was found during the search.
The efforts of the police in wooing the tribespeople by engaging them in socio-cultural activities and by planting informers among them seem to have backfired with the Adivasis realising that there would be no
change in their plight in immediate future.
Their pleas for facilities, including safe houses and power connection, are yet to be heard by the authorities.
The Maoists, who visited a hamlet across the river Chaliyar three weeks ago, had spent the whole night there. They had reportedly told the tribespeople not to fall prey to the offers being made by the police and the government. They were told to stand for their rights and to insist on their demands.
What surprised the police was the courage being displayed by the Maoists to visit the hamlets in spite of the police having informers among the tribespeople. It had taken two days for the police to get to learn about the visit of the Maoists to Vaniyampuzha hamlet. The police suspect that some tribespeople are working as double agents.
