India - Re-Issue of Maoist Supportive Magazine

COIMBATORE: The recent re-issue of “Saalai Oram”, a Marxist publication sympathetic to the Maoist movement in the district, and the recent instances of stray violence across the border in neighbouring Kerala have put the police on high alert here. Highly placed intelligence sources, told Express that the magazine had been published by a student activist and Maoist sympathizer prior to the arrest of the five suspects, including Roopesh and his wife Shyna in May of 2015. Soon after their arrests, the publication was seized, but a re-issue has recently surfaced, sources said. Intelligence sources suspect that the magazines were published in Coimbatore district by the student activist, who is believed to have gone underground.
“Though the activist is a known sympathizer, we have no evidence to confirm that he had joined the Maoist movement. But there are chances for him to join the movement in the future,” sources told Express. The coimbatore district police have also planned to undertake community outreach programmes on the outskirts of the city. The programmes would help the cops develop better ties with the villagers interact directly with the local community and sensitize them to the movement of Naxals in the region in an effort to gather information from sensitive areas, sources said. Superintendent of Police R V Ramya Bharathi said that the programmes would be geared to build better co-operation between police and the local communities.

“We have stepped up security at vulnerable police stations,” confirmed the Superintendent of Police on Wednesday. Intelligence sources also told Express that the recent clashes between Maoists and police in Agali, just near the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, has prompted the police to sound a general alert to prevent the intrusion of Maoists into Anaikatty and other neighbouring areas of the district.