Kerala naxals plot in Chhattisgarh

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A special conference of the Maoists active in the tribal areas in Kerala was held at a secret location in Chhattisgarh from April 20 to 25.

Sources said senior leaders of the CPI (Maoist), including its general secretary Ganapathy, spoke in the conference. The meeting was held in the Maoist stronghold as it was felt that Kerala was not safe for holding such a high-profile meeting.

The focus of discussion was the document on rectification process prepared by the central committee of the party. All the states except Kerala and Punjab had completed their special conferences much earlier.

Sources said around 20 underground Maoists, including its former state secretary Roopesh alias Praveen alias Mohan, attended the conference.

Roopesh, against whom there is a case for harbouring Maoist leader Malla Raji Reddy, has been given some assignments in the Dandakaranya region. He and his wife Shyna have been absconding ever since the police launched a hunt after the arrest of Reddy at Ankamali in 2007.

The conference of the Maoists in the urban areas will be held soon, after which there will be a national conference of all the units. The state committee of the Maoists has been divided into tribal and the urban committees at a meeting held near Suratkal in Karnataka two months ago.

The tribal areas in Kerala are brought under the newly-constituted South India Regional Committee, which is headed by Abhay, the central committee member and the spokesperson of the party.