Thiruvananthapuram/ WAYANAD: In a bid to strengthen the anti-Naxal drives, the state police have posted two young IPS officers in the northern districts of Malappuram and Palakkad.

At the same time, the anti-Maoist Thunderbolt commandos on Monday started combing operations in the Vilangad forest region near Periya ghats, Wayanad, for suspected Maoist cadre who fired at the police at Chappayil tribal settlement on Sunday evening.

The two IPS officers posted to counter the Naxal threat are Mr Debesh Kumar Behera as Malappuram district police chief in place of Mr S. Saikumar and Mr H. Manjunath as Palakkad district police chief in place of Mr G. Somasekhar.

Both Mr Behera and Mr Manjunath, who were serving as AIGs at police headquarters, had acquired special training in anti-Naxal operations under Andhra Pradesh’s Greyhound.

The withdrawal of the young IPS officers, who were earlier posted in the northern districts for the anti-Naxal operations, had invited severe criticism.

Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said that the encounter at Vellamunda was being viewed seriously by the government.

“We could identify that those involved in the attack were Maoists. However, with regard to the recent attack at Nitta Gelatin, we are yet to confirm whether those were Maoists,” he told reporters here on Monday.

He also said that the Maoists were yet to gain any support from tribals. Directions were also given to the police to ensure proper action against complaints of persons hailing from dalit communities, he said.

Meanwhile, top police sources said that the attack from Naxals were quite anticipated and hence the police anti-Naxal squads could respond and chase them away.

“We are trying to figure out the members in the eight-member gang as we are aware of the Maoist activists in the locality where the encounter occurred,” said the minister.

It is for the first time that the police anti-Naxal squads had a direct encounter with the Maoists ever since the anti-Naxal drives were launched about two years back.

The encounter between Maoists and police in the Wayanad jungles was the first-ever in the state. The Maoists fired six rounds and the commandoes retaliated with 30 rounds, according to police.

DIG northern range Dinendra Kashyap, who is monitoring the anti-Maoist mission, visited the Vellamunda police station on Monday and collected information on the firing from team members, special branch police personnel and top police officials, including DySP A.R. Prem Kumar.

Addressing reporters, Mr Kashyap said that it was suspected that the Maoist team had around eight members. “We have recovered some dress and caps from the location.

There were no casualties and no signs of injuries,” he said. The encounter took place when commandos were on a combing operation in the locality following a tip-off received from sources about the movement of Maoists in the jungle”, he added.

However, he evaded questions on the failure of the Thunderbolt team to nab any of the Maoist cadre so far despite many ‘Maoist- linked’ attacks and the reported spotting of suspected cadre in the jungle. Mr Kashyap returned to Kannur after the meeting.

Two adivasis of Chappom tribal settlement, Raman and Kelu, told Deccan Chronicle that they had heard a few rounds of firing in the nearby jungle.

“We thought that some hunters had hit some animals. We did not have any clue about the Thunderbolt raid. We learnt about the encounter and firing only through TV channels,” said the duo.