Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday accused the Opposition United Democratic Front of glorifying Maoists and said they were not holy souls or lambs, PTI reported. Vijayan was defending the police action against alleged Maoists in the forests near Attappady in Palakkad district last week.

The Kerala Police’s anti-insurgency force had on October 28 killed four people during a search operation in the Attappady forest range. Some tribals in the area alleged that the four people had gone to surrender to the police but were gunned down. Opposition parties have accused the government of conducting a fake encounter.

Three days after the alleged encounter, the Kerala Police arrested two law students for allegedly distributing pro-Maoist brochures in Kozhikode. They were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a law that Vijayan’s party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has often opposed in the past. The two students were also CPI(M) workers, according to reports.

The Congress-led Opposition in Kerala has also opposed these arrests and called them barbaric. On Monday, the Congress had moved a notice for adjournment motion in the state Assembly to discuss the killings and the arrests. Responding to this, Vijayan said his government would not allow the misuse of the UAPA and added that “the Maoists had not come to surrender...They had shot at the police”.

“The ultras had killed several CRPF personnel, police and farmers in various states, including Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar, and the Maoists are being portrayed as ‘holy souls’ by the UDF,” Vijayan said. “Do you want this situation to come to Kerala?”

The opposition had alleged that the suspected Maoists were shot at point-blank range when they had come to surrender. Responding to this, Vijayan said: “Do not portray Maoists as lambs. Why is the opposition trying to glorify the Maoists?”

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