CHIKKAMAGALURU: During a combing operation early Wednesday Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) and police personnel came across eight detonators, some extremist literature, clothes and food materials in a tent at Nemar Estate, falling under Khan forest area of Sringeri. The incident has come as a shock to police as they had believed that naxals have lost their base in Chikkamagaluru, owing to lack of local support and continuous combing operations, and fled to Kerala and other states.
The last time Naxals had made their presence felt in the district was in January this year, when police found banners at Tekkur Circle of Sringeri urging local residents to oppose Kasturiranagan report on Western Ghats.
Based on the direction from top police officials, ANF personnel and police split into five teams and were carrying out combing operations in the forest areas of Sringeri. A police officer told Deccan Chronicle that when they noticed a tent, they surrounded it. However, they found nobody inside the tent.
The presence of Naxals assumes significance because gram panchayats elections are round the corner in Chikkamagaluru and rest of the State. Sringeri police made the spot inspection of the tent and registered a case. Meanwhile, joint operation by ANF and police personnel has been intensified in the region.
