A top Maoist leader hailing from Tamil Nadu was killed as an encounter between police and Maoists continued for the second day on Tuesday at Attappadi forest in Palakkad district. On Monday, three Maoists were killed when patrolling commandos of the state police, Thunderbolt, exchanged fire with Maoists camping in deep forests. Police sources said that Manivasakam, a member of CPI (Maoist) Tamil Nadu state committee, was killed in the fresh encounter. “Our teams were in the forest engaged in the inquest of the three bodies. a gang fired at us. We retaliated, killing senior Maoist Manivasakam,” a police officer said. He said that all four bodies were taken for post-mortem to Thrissur. Sources said that Manivasakam was at the helm of Maoist activity in the region after the death of Kuppu Devaraj in a 2016 encounter in Malappuram. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran took strong exception to the police action. Human rights activists also protested against the killings.
