Forest and police personnel intensified their combing operations in the Thirunelly forest area under the North Wayanad forest division on Wednesday in search of a group that reportedly distributed pamphlets on Maoist ideals at Gundikapparambu, near Thirunelly, on Tuesday night.
Police sources said a seven-member group, including two women, came to Gundikapparambu around 7.15 p.m., shouted slogans and distributed printed pamphlets in a tribal colony and nearby shops, urging the people to boycott the local body elections. They pasted posters on the walls decrying the elections. The group left the site after purchasing provisions such as rice and tomato from a shop.
Later, a member of the group came to a private homestay in the area around 11 p.m., demanding cigarettes from the owner, sources added.
