The police noted that Karthik had Chennai links and was a student of a government arts college in the city a few years ago. Suresh’s background is being verified, the police added. “Because Maoist cadre operate in different names in different areas, we need to get official information from the Kerala police to know the background of the activists,” a senior police official noted here.

The woman Maoist cadre killed had been working among the tribal groups in Palakkad and Wayanad for the last four years, sources added.

Following an alert from the Kerala police that Maoists could have been escaped into the forest areas in Tamil Nadu after the encounter, security has been beefed up along TN-Kerala border.

“As soon as we received information, security along the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu has been increased with additional deployment of force. Apart from district police force, STF and other wings are on alert,” DGP JK Tripathi told DT Next when contacted.