The Western Ghats Special Zonal Committee (WGSZC) of CPI (Maoist) has been increasing the strength of its armed wing People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) in five districts of state, said a report from the intelligence wing of the anti-naxal squad of the state police.

The report submitted to the government said there was alarming increase in the number of PLGA members trooping to these regions after the death of senior leaders of the party in an encounter in Nilambur forest two years ago. Around 45 PLGA members attended a martyrdom observance programme held in Wayanad-Kozhikode forest border in the last week of August, it said.

The meeting, in which central committee members of the party and members of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) attended, has decided to strengthen five branch committees in Kannur, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Wayanad and Malappuram. The squad has already confirmed the presence of Maoist leaders Danish, Ganesh and Prasanna in Nilambur forest last week.

It was expected that the death of central committee member of the party Kuppu Devraj and his aide Ajitha, in an encounter with police on November 24, 2016 in Nilambur would be a major setback to the activities of naxal forces in the region. But the latest report points out that the number of PLGA members in Kerala has been increased from 25-28 to 45 as a group of unidentified people, including cadres from North Indian states have also joined the group recently, aiming to scale up the activities in tri-junction of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

According to sources in anti-naxal squad, only cadres from Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu worked for the group in the region earlier, but the presence of cadres from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in Kerala forests is a cause of a major concern to security forces.

Meanwhile, posters that appeared in the name of CPI (Maoist) in various parts of rural Kozhikode blame state government for the recent flood disaster. A poster appeared in the name of Kabani area committee of the party alleges that the government, which had received proper warning on heavy rain and flood, miserably failed to take proper action to evacuate people on time.