North hills of Kerala on alert amid fear of Maoist entry

Thiruvananthapuram: The forest districts of north Kerala have come under special police vigil upon fears of infiltration by Maoist guerillas, Chief Minister Ooommen Chandy told the state assembly Thursday. Answering queries from Congress legislator Anwar Sadath and others, he said: "The forest areas in the northern districts is where Maoists could make an entry and to combat this a special internal security wing of the police has been formed."

The hilly district of Wayanad has a large population of tribals and its forests border Karnataka state.


"One reason why Maoists could make an entry to this area is because of the exploitation of the hapless tribals," Chandy said. "We are also monitoring closely the activities of certain agencies which work among the tribals."

On the steps being taken to protect certain religious establishments in Kerala against possible threats from extremists, Chandy said the Sree Padmanabhaswamy, Sabarimala and the Guruvayoor Sree Krishna temples were being provided the highest security.

Certain members expressed concern about the presence of a large number of Maldivian nationals in the state, especially in the capital, who basically arrive here for medical consultation and also for educating their children.

"The hallmark of our state is the peaceful co-existence of people from various religions and communities but we are not leaving anything to chance and proper intelligence machinery is working with utmost efficiency," said Chandy.