Chikmagalur: Are Naxals, who have attempted to increase their area of influence in the state over the last decade or so, giving up and moving to neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Kerala? If Inspector General of Police, Amrit Paul is to be believed, Naxals are no longer as active in Karnataka as in the past mainly owing to lack of support from the people.
Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, Mr Paul said the Naxals were now moving to Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the police in both states had been alerted to this development. It was in 2002 that the Naxals, until then mainly confined to Pavagada, tried to widen their sphere of influence by taking up cudgels on behalf of the landless in Kalasa, Chikmagalur.
In the years that followed four of the ultras were gunned down by the police and the government began to develop villages in and around Kalasa to counter them. But the locals here warn that the recent eviction of families from inam land in Kalasa could give the Naxals opportunity to regain support in the area if the government is not careful.
Since the eviction of 3,600 families from about 6,700 acres of inam land, thousands have been made jobless, according to them. “These youth could vent their anger by supporting the Naxals,” they caution.
Sources in the Sringeri taluk office also say that Naxals have not been seen in the area for a while and attribute it to the Naxal package announced by the government. “As many as 35 projects of the 40 have been completed. Power connection too has been provided to some of the Naxal affected villages,” said an officer.
