SOURCE: PTI
The Kerala Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), with the assistance of Tamil Nadu’s Q-Branch, arrested a key CPI (Maoist) operative from Hosur on Saturday.
Santhosh Coimbatore alias Ravi (39), is an accused in about 45 UAPA cases, police said. Santhosh, also known as Rajaye, played a crucial role in Maoist activities in the tri-junction region of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, where Maoist presence has been reported since 2013.
He was actively involved in armed revolutionary movements and was a member of the Nadukani and Kabani Maoist squads, they added.
In July 2024, Santhosh, along with fellow Maoists C P Moidheen, P K Soman, and P M Manoj, managed to escape police surveillance in the Kerala forests. While the ATS later arrested Moidheen, Soman, and Manoj, Santhosh remained elusive, fleeing from Kerala, police said.
Following sustained efforts, the ATS finally tracked him down and arrested him, police added.
Over the past 12 years, coordinated operations by the Kerala Police, ATS, Special Operations Group (SOG), and law enforcement agencies from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have led to the arrests of all Maoist operatives active in Kerala, officials said.