2 Maoists held in Wayanad following gun battle with Kerala Police's commando teams
Wayanad (Ker) (PTI): Two Maoists - a man and a woman- were apprehended following a gun battle in a forest area here late on Tuesday night, police said.
The apprehended Maoists have been identified as Chandru and Unnimaya, a police official said on Wednesday.
The encounter broke out between Kerala Police's specialised teams and Maoists in the Periya area under Thalappuzha police station limit, police said.
The incident occurred when a group of Maoists, reportedly five in number, sought shelter in a house to charge their mobile phones, police sources said.
During the operation, three members of the group managed to escape from the scene, they said.
The apprehended Maoists have been taken to a police camp nearby for questioning, the sources added.
Kerala Police teams had launched a combing operation in the area based on intelligence inputs received from a Maoist messenger apprehended on Tuesday in neighbouring Kozhikode district.
During the operation, the Maoists opened fire at the Special Operation Group (SOG) and the Thunderbolt Squad, both elite commando forces of the state police, sources said.
Last month, a group of Maoists, armed with sophisticated weapons, had arrived at a private resort in Makkimala in Thalappuzha and taken control of the manager's mobile phone to send a statement to the media regarding issues faced by estate workers.
The ultras, six in number, had allegedly insisted on obtaining the mobile phone from the hotel staff, subsequently instructing him to WhatsApp their statement to a select group of journalists.
Police then had registered a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act in connection with this incident.
Recently, there have been reports of suspected Maoist presence in various forest-fringe hamlets in Wayanad and neighbouring Kannur districts.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
