Maoists had planned permanent base: DGP Loknath Behera

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State police chief  Loknath Behera on Friday said that their strategy was to stop Maoists from setting up a permanent strategic operational base in the state. “We know what happened in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa where they managed to establish the base. Once they succeed in setting up the base in the state then it would be difficult to tackle the Left wing extremism,” Mr Behera told DC.

The DGP said the Left wing extremists were making attempts to establish a permanent base and this was also clear from the inputs that they were receiving from various sources. The solar panels Maoists were carrying clearly hinted at their long term plans for the area. “Our strategy is to demolish such plans,” he said and added that most of the extremists were infiltrating from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Mr Behera said from his experience of investigating cases pertaining to Maoists in Orissa and Chhattisgarh, he could sense their strategy. The state police chief said the Left wing extremists had recently carried out an attack in Palakkad. “We have intensified patrolling in forests. The entire area is sprawling and sometimes it is difficult to cover the difficult terrain. The other people are actually more familiar with the terrain,” he said.

On the allegations that the Nilambur encounter was fake, the DGP said he would not like to react as an inquiry by the magistrate was currently going on. Besides, the Crime Branch was also investigating the matter. When asked whether he expected any action against him after the inquiry, the DGP said he had no such fear. On threat at the personal level, the state police chief said during the tenure with the premier investigating agency he was given Z plus category security.