Forest offices, KFC restaurant attacked by Maoists in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two weeks after Maoists and police exchanged fire in Wayanad, a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet and two offices of the Forest department were today attacked by suspected Maoists in Palakkad and Wayanad districts.

No one was injured in any of these attacks which occurred in the early hours today, police said.

Billboards and the group's posters calling for armed struggle were found by police from the premises where the attacks took place.

Police said two persons were taken into custody in connection with the attack on Silent Valley Forest Range office in Palakkad district.

Security in the areas has been tightened in the wake of the attack, police added.

District police officials said the Silent Valley Forest Range office situated at Mukkola in Attapady region of Palakkad was attacked and furniture and computers were damaged.

The group also set ablaze a forest jeep parked in front of the office. Window panes of the building also were damaged in the attack, they said.

The KFC restaurant at Chandranagar in Palakkad was attacked by a group of men, police said adding that posters displaying anti-US slogans were found at the building from where it functions.

In another incident, an office of "Vana Samrakshana Samithi" (Forest aid post) was vandalized by suspected ultras at Kunhom in Vellamunda forest area in Wayanad district.

Wayanad Collector Keshvendra Kumar told the media that modus operandi indicate that the attacks were carried out by Maoists. "Wordings in the posters and modus operandi indicate that Maoists are behind the attack," he said.

Combing operations were already on and in the wake of the latest incident, vigilance has been intensified especially in the vulnerable areas, he added.

The attacks assume significance as it comes after an exchange of fire between police and Maoists at Vellamunda in Wayanad district on December 7. It took place when personnel of Thunderbolt, a special police wing, was conducting a routine combing operation.

Wayanad had been a hotbed of Naxalite activities during the late 1960s and early 1970s and there had been instances of encounters with police.