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Maoists vandalise agricultural bank
The activities of Maoist outfits in Kerala have come back into the limelight after an attack apparently by a group of Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist Naxalbari activists on a bank office. The group, considered a Maoist outfit, ransacked the offices of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development at Kalpetta and Kannur on Friday morning.
- By Akhel Mathew, Correspondent
- Published: 23:24 July 26, 2008
Thiruvananthapuram: The activities of Maoist outfits in Kerala have come back into the limelight after an attack apparently by a group of Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist Naxalbari activists on a bank office. The group, considered a Maoist outfit, ransacked the offices of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development at Kalpetta and Kannur on Friday morning.
The group set fire to a number of documents in the bank's offices and damaged the computer and furniture before leaving.
According to police, the Maoist activists broke into the residence of the bank managers early on Friday morning, threatened the residents by brandishing weapons and went on to set fire to the files in the offices.
The attack seemed to have been triggered by the group's discontent over the choice of beneficiaries for the recent waiver of agricultural debts by the central government.
There had been protests in different parts of the state by disgruntled farmers who alleged that the loans of genuine farmers were not waived while many others got their loans waived.
Some pamphlets thrown around the place after the attack highlighted the group's unhappiness with the manner in which the debt waiver scheme was implemented by banks.
The pamphlets suggested that the ruling establishment was responsible for landing farmers in debt, and warned that the protests would continue.
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