Left wing extremism not on the increase in Kerala:CM

Activities of left wing extremists' groups, including that of Maoists, have been reported in northern parts of the state, especially among tribals, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here today.

However, Vijayan said there were no reports that left wing extremism was on the increase in the state.

A unified command has been formed under the chairmanship of the chief minister to review the situation, Vijayan said during question hour in the assembly.

Maoist presence has been noticed inMalappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Palakkad and Kannur districts, he said.

Kerala has asked the Centre to include the maoist affected districts in the state in the Security Related Expenditure Scheme to tackle left wing extremism, he said.

The government's view is to confront "ideology with ideology," he said.

The maoists were not able to gain strength in Kerala because the situation here is "different from other parts of the country," he said.

The tribals were not accepting them and there was strong resistance to the maoists from the tribals themselves, he added.

Vijayan said police stations in the forest fringe areas and the functioning of the elite 'Thunderbolt' force would be strengthened.

He also refuted allegations that the death of two maoists in Nilambur forest region in November 2016 was in a fake police encounter.

A magisterial level probe into the incident also have not found fault with the police, he said.

Maoists were coming with an intention to attack and police action was taken because no other option was available, Vijayan said.

The CPI, the second largest partner in the CPI-M-led LDF government, has stated that the death of the maoists in Nilambur was due to a "fake encounter.