Maoists were killed during shootout:police

Caught on the backfoot over the recent gunning down of four maoists, police on Wednesday said they were killed during an exchange of fire which was started by the ultras.

However, tribal leaders, who acted as messengers to broker a deal for their surrender, claimed that it was a pre-planned attack by the police.

Four maoists--- Karthi, Rema, Aravind and Manivasagan-- were killed in a two-day combing operation near Attapady in Palakkad distrct that started on Monday, Palakkad Superintendent of Police Shiv Vikram said.

"The Thunderbolt commando team was patrolling the Manjikadu area. They saw a camp shed and when they approached it, there was firing and then there was exchange of fire.

We got information that in the exchange of fire, three people--a woman and two men-- were neutralised," Shiv Vikram told the media here.

Vikram said the next day the shootout lasted nearly two hours and one person was "neutralised."
We suspect they were armed with self-loading rifles (SLRs) all of which are deadly weapons."