Police lauch combing operations to flush out five Maoists

Police have started combing operations to nab five Maoists who were seen near Thiruvambady here on Thursday morning.

Police said five ultras, including one woman, were roaming near forest areas of Muthappan Puzha for nearly an hour.

"We have identified four of them. They are Vikram Gowda, Suresh, Santhosh and Unni Maya. The fourth person is yet to be identified.

The search is on," police told PTI.

This is the sixth time in the last two weeks that maoists have been spotted in the area, a local man claimed.

"They came at around 5 am. They carried weapons.

The group included four men and a woman.They had tea from a shop and took rice from a nearby house," he said.

Police launched the combing operation to find whether they have moved deep into the forests and entered Wayanad district.

The ultras had also pasted posters against the forest department, the state and central governments and the courts, in the area, police added.