Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Even as pressure mounts from the Opposition, and within sections of his own party, the CPI(M), Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday defended the recent police actions against suspected Maoists, and said that Maoists should not be portrayed as innocent “lambs”.

Killing of four suspected Maoists at Attappadi forest, and subsequent arrest of two CPI(M) workers under UAPA, the stringent anti-terror law, has evoked widespread protest against the police department, which comes under the Home ministry, handled by Vijayan.

Justifying the arrest of the two youths from Kozhikode, Vijayan told the Assembly on Monday that the police have evidence against them. “The police had recovered pro-Maoist leaflets and books from houses of the arrested. When the police were examining the house of one of the arrested persons, Thaha Fazil, he had raised pro-Maoist slogans. So the police charged them under UAPA sections,” Vijayan said, adding that his government will not allow misuse of the stringent anti-terror law. Soon after Vijayan’s address to the Assembly, the police released a video, shot during the raid at Thaha’s house, which purportedly shows him shouting pro-Maoist slogans and protesting killings of Maoists in Palakkad last week.

Referring to protests by Opposition Congress-led UDF, Vijayan said, “They (suspects) did not come to surrender; instead, they fired at the police. It is shocking that Congress leaders are justifying the (acts of) Maoists. Maoists have killed hundreds of CRPF men across the country…don’t make them holy souls.”

Vijayan said the CPI(M)-led LDF government under him had quashed UAPA charges in six cases — all of them registered under the previous Congress-led government. In nine other cases registered during the same period, the present government has not given sanction for prosecution and instead directed for further investigation, he said.

On Monday, the arrested duo moved bail applications at a magistrate court in Kozhikode, where the prosecution pointed out that they had been booked under UAPA. The court will take up their bail pleas on Wednesday.

Asked about the case, B G Harindranath, who was Kerala’s Law Secretary until three months ago, said religious fundamentalists in the state often operate under the guise of Maoists. “From my experience, I can say there is a link between religious fundamentalists and Maoists in Kerala. Due to the strong Left orientation, Maoism has got a certain amount of respectability in the state. (Religious) extremists make use of this aspect and operate under the cover of Maoism,” Harindranath said.

Harindranath, who was also chairman of the authority to review UAPA case, said the law can be invoked against a person only if he is a member or is found actively participating in propaganda of any banned organisation under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “There are several serious cases, but the police (sometimes) charge UAPA on flimsy grounds also,” he said.

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