Edachena Kungan Nair planned the operation and was helped by 150 Kurichia bowmen under Talakkal Chandu. Fort had 70 men under Captain Dickenson and there was a large force of 360 men under Major Drummond only a few miles away in Pulinjali. So if Major came to help Captain in time Kurichia force would be overwhelmed by gun-fire and numbers. But Kungan and Chandu decided to take risk. The whole garrison was slaughtered in the surprise attack led by the two generals and they lost only 5 dead and 10 wounded. Dickenson himself was killed. Rebels got 112 muskets, six boxes of ammunition and 6000 rupees. They also destroyed the whole fort.(The remains of the fort can be seen now near Panamaram High School). Wellesley was enraged at this rebel audacity and dispatched 500 men to retaliate. But by then rebel victory had roused all of Wayanad and Kottayam. Edachena Kungan, the hero of Panamaram success, went to Pulpally shrine and issued a proclamation to people to join Raja's war. 3000 men volunteered. They were posted at Valliyurkav at Mananthavadi, Motimjarra [?], and Edappally and 100 of them under the brother of Kungan posted themselves at Periya Pass and 25 men were posted at Kottiyur Pass. Rebel outposts were set up en route from Dindimal to Valliyurkav. The rebel army was mostly composed of archers and swordsmen, but some had muskets. Edachena Kungan Nair led an attack on a Company detachment headed from Mysore to Mananthavadi. The harassment began once this force entered Wayanad till it reached a stream between Manathavadi and Bhavully river. There they were blocked by a rebel force entrenched on the opposite side of the stream. But to ill luck of rebels, a reinforcement which had caught up with blocked Company army outflanked the rebel entrenchment and took a large number of prisoners of war. Besides, East India Company reinforcements arrived in Wayanad from all directions. But they could find rebels nowhere. The rebels now concentrated in Kottayam. In 1802, they raided a supplies convoy near Kottiyur. The Company administration were frustrated by Kottayam people's total lack of co-operation. To add to their trouble, in 1803, a rebel force took to field in Kurumbranad* & Payyormala* and people were sympathetic to rebels. Kungan marched towards Pazhassi to wipe out the Company outpost there but had to retreat, though they suffered serious losses. Soon rebellion spread into