Cultural activists under police lens

Thrissur: The suspected Maoist attack in Wayanad has brought all cultural activists and their events under the police scanner.

All venues, including the Kerala Sahithya Akademi and Sangeetha Nataka Akademi campuses here, where at least one event takes place every day, are now being closely watched by the  police.

Intelligence sources say  the police has reason to be alert as the Maoists have used the Kerala Sahithya Ackademi campus to chalk out plans and meet those with a similar mindset.

“They had plans to draw human rights and cultural activists , especially the young ones among them, into their movement at these cultural events,” they reveal. Disturbingly, the Maoists appear to be succeeding as their influence is reportedly growing among the state’s youth.

The police has also intensified security at the Pallieyakkara Toll Plaza on the national highway 47 in Thrissur and around the Nitta Gelatine India Limited Company, Chalakudy, following intelligence reports that the Maoists or their frontal organisations could target the toll plaza and other vital establishments as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the movement in Kerala.

The toll plaza and other vital establishments that have been a centre of public protest in the recent past are on the hit list of the ultras  especially as a few organisations with a  strong ideological  leaning to the Maoist movement,  have been taking part in anti-toll strikes here over the past few years, explain sources .