Maoist and anti-social elements have infiltrated the migrant community, especially in the rural areas of Ernakulam district, in the last more than a decade.
The arrest of three suspected Al-Qaeda operatives by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Perumbavur and Eloor in the district is the first such incident in which members of a global terror outfit have been nabbed from among the community.
The incident comes nearly two years after the arrest of three suspected National Democratic Front of Bodoland members from the district. They were working at a plywood factory at Mannoor, near Perumbavur, when they were nabbed by the rural police in November 2018.
It soon emerged that cases had been registered against them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Assam. Eventually, they were handed over to the Assam Police.
Four suspected Bangladeshi nationals carrying Indian passports were deported back to Dubai and Kuwait on their arrival at the Cochin international airport in November and December 2018. It is suspected that they had plans to mingle with the large migrant population in the district to avoid detection.
Enforcement officials were aghast to find that all four had seemingly original Indian documents, including PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, and voter identity cards, which they had allegedly procured from Kolkata after crossing the border.
In October 2015, a Maoist commander from Jharkhand, Jitendar Oraon, was arrested from Angamaly, another migrant worker-intense town in the district.
Similarly, the arrest of Malla Raji Reddy, a senior leader of the now defunct Naxalite outfit Peoples War Group (PWG), and his wife, Beecha Suguna, from Angamaly by a special Andhra Pradesh police team in December 2007 had made headlines.
He was in charge of the movement in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat and was reportedly planning to take the movement forward in the State.