Coimbatore : A tribal youth from the Thalinji tribal settlement located at the Amaravathi Forest Range in the Udumalaipet has reportedly confessed to have spotted 10 Maoists in these forests, after which special teams have been deployed to trace out the men in the hills.
Coimbatore : A tribal youth from the Thalinji tribal settlement located at the Amaravathi Forest Range in the Udumalaipet has reportedly confessed to have spotted 10 Maoists in these forests, after which special teams have been deployed to trace out the men in the hills.
According to sources, Chinnaraj, the tribal youth had reportedly spotted 10 men while bathing in Thenaru River here as they were seen crossing the river with three heavy bags.
While most of them had reportedly spoken in Hindi, one of them had enquired Chinnaraj in Tamil, where he had enquired about the population of the village.
Chinnaraj had confessed that the unidentified person had enquired whether forest department had felicitated necessary basic facilities and education facilities like schools. They had also reportedly asked if any girls from the settlement are going to college.
After being scared by the presence of strange men in the hills, Chinnaraj had bolted towards the village and had confessed the local forest staff about their presence.
While he was taken by the police for enquiry and not allowed to meet the press, a team of Special Task Force has started combing the hills in search of the men with weapons.
Around 120 men had split into four small teams and are searching in different directions including Kodaikanal and Udumalaipet.
Sources claim that the ten men could have moved into the area through road from Nilgiris after a team of Kerala Policemen opened fire on their camp killing one in Wayanad. Though police deny to comment on the issue, sources claim that they could be Maoists as most of the men spoke in Hindi.