CPI (Maoist) put up posters at veterinary university at Pookode in Waynad recently

The Naxal Special Division (NSD) has intensified surveillance along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border in the Nilgiris, after the Communist Party of India (Maoist) observed the ‘Foundation Week’ from September 21 to 27.

The vigil was heightened after three Maoists pasted posters at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University at Pookode in Wayanad. The proximity of Wayanad to the Nilgiris is a “cause for concern,” said a senior official. Special Task Force (STF) and the NSD have intensified surveillance along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu borders in the two districts. Though several instances of Maoist movement have been reported in Kerala in recent times, chances of the rebels entering Tamil Nadu were remote, he said.

The Special Task Force (STF) and the NSD have six camps each in Coimbatore and the Nilgiris. Personnel posted at the 12 camps are conducting regular combing operations in forests along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu borders.

Posters with photos of Maoists wanted by various agencies have been put up at all checkposts and police stations near the borders.

Case registered

Meanwhile, the Singanallur police in Coimbatore city started an investigation after posters hailing a banned outfit appeared on the walls on Kamarajar Road.

A case was registered against unidentified persons under Section (4) of Open Space Disfigurement Act. The 'Q' Branch and the Intelligence Bureau have collected details of the poster campaign. “The pasting of posters could be a deliberate act by supporters or front organisations to remind the law enforcing agencies that their parent group is active,” said an official.

The “Foundation Week” is observed to commemorate the merger of the CPI (Marxist - Leninist) People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) which formed the CPI(Maoist) in 2004.