Naxals spotted in Kodagu after 11 years; Anti-Naxal Force leans on new surrender policy to help

The ANF officials, however, also speculated that these sightings could even be deliberate attempts by Naxal elements to garner attention.

Every five years, when elections are around the corner, there is stringent checking by several authorities at the borders of every state, which results in the movement of Naxals from one place to another due to fears of getting caught, said sources from the ANF.

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The revised surrender policy

The Karnataka government earlier this month revised the surrender policy for Left-wing extremists (Naxalites/Maoists) by enhancing the financial support offered as a part of their rehabilitation package.

According to the revised policy, Naxalites holding positions in prominent proscribed extremist groups and facing more than one criminal case could get financial support of up to ₹7.5 lakh upon their surrender.

In the earlier surrender policy, notified in 2015, the maximum amount was ₹5 lakh.

The revised policy came into effect on 15 March. It divides the Left-wing extremists into three categories.

According to the revised policy, Naxalites who are residents of Karnataka, holding positions in armed groups, and facing at least one criminal case fall under the A category.

Outsiders holding positions in banned extremist groups with one or more criminal cases come under the B category.

People who do not belong to either A or B category, but support or sympathise with the extremist groups — for example, informants and recruiters — have been put in the C category.

The A-category people who surrender would be eligible for financial support up to ₹7.5 lakh, those in the B category would get ₹4 lakh, and those in the C category would get ₹2 lakh — all in three instalments.

People from all three categories would receive additional financial support if they surrendered their weapons and gadgets.

Besides the financial assistance, the surrendering Naxals would also be trained if they showed interest in starting businesses or improving skills. For this, they would also get additional financial support of ₹5,000 per month for training at a recognised institution.

The revised policy also makes it clear that serious cases the Naxals are facing would continue in court. The government, going forward, might consider withdrawing cases after following the due legal procedures.

ANF officials are of the view that the increased financial support and the opportunity of surrendering with honour and getting reformed and rehabilitated to get into the mainstream according to the revised surrendering policy might get the Naxalites to consider surrendering.

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No confirmed sighting since 2013

According to the ANF officials, not even a single sighting of any Naxal elements had occurred from 2013 until recently.

“There was not even a single confirmed sighting, or information or complaint or an FIR registered on any Naxal element since 2013 from the Dakshina Kannada belt until the Kudremukh area,” a senior police official from the ANF told South First.

He added that there was some non-credible information on Naxal sightings at Sampaje on the border of Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts.

However, the ANF was unable to confirm that information, which emerged in February 2018.

4 armed Naxals in Kodagu?

Kodagu district police sources said that villagers in Koojimale, near a rubber estate close to Kadamakallu near the Kalluru village, on the evening of 16 March spotted four people — including two women — who were suspected to be Naxals.

One of the men donned a uniform while the other three were in civilian clothes, but were armed with rifles and magazines.

The four had visited a provision shop in Koojimale and purchased groceries worth ₹3,500, according to villagers who informed the police.

While one of the women seemed to be in her mid-30s, the other three seemed to be in their early 40s, the villagers told the police.

The four conversed in Kannada with the shopkeeper and also brought several kilograms of rice and wheat from the shop.

In their interaction with the shopkeeper, the suspected Naxalites reportedly told him that he and the villagers should always support them.

They are also said to have told the shopkeeper that they were heading to meet four others waiting for them on the way to a hill, and that they used to meet up at a coffee plantation on a levelled area at a place called Thora near Virajpet in Kodagu.

The four persons then left the shop with the groceries, going in the same direction they had come from — into the forest.

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Catching attention

While casually interacting with the locals at the shop, the uniformed man told them that he was a forest official.

However, when a forest watcher visited the shop two days later, and when one of the locals inquired with him if any forest official with guns had been sent to patrol the forest, he denied it, and that was when the villagers thought it prudent to inform the police.

The Kodagu district police visited the spot and, after conducting their inquiries with the locals, informed the ANF.

The force, in turn, deployed armed personnel in and around the area bordering the two districts near Kukke Subramanya, and started their combing operations on 19 March.

An FIR was registered at the Madikeri rural police station under the Arms Act, and the police were said to be working on identifying the four suspects and nabbing them.

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The investigations

Inquiries conducted by both the Kodagu district police and the ANF officials — the latter gathered intelligence inputs from their sources in the forests and also from their Kerala counterparts — reportedly led them to suspect that one of the Naxals, could be Vikram Gowda, who allegedly heads the operations in Karnataka for a banned Naxal outfit.

The ANF squad suspect the others are Gowda’s associates Santhosh, Latha and Nisha.

The ANF and the Kodagu police also suspect that they had come into Karnataka from Kerala and were headed towards Chikkamagaluru or Shivamogga.

Karnataka ANF Superintendent of Police (SP) Jitendra Kumar Dayam told South First that the ANF’s network coordinating with all agencies was collecting regular inputs — especially from the belt suspected to have Naxal movements.

This extended from the Dakshina Kannada district to the borders of Kerala, certain parts of Udupi near Hebri, and towards Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru.

“Naxal movements [in this area] were a common sight between 2003 and 2013. However, not even a single confirmed sighting was reported from 2013,” Dayam told South First.

“Now that the forests are frequented by trekkers, Forest Department patrolling staff, local police patrolling teams, and ANF personnel are on duty. There has not been a single instance of Naxal sightings all these years,” he noted.

The SP also told South First about the revised surrendering policy: “This is a good opportunity, and no one needs to panic. We will always keep our channels open for them to surrender and lead reformed lives.”