Following fresh reports on suspected Maoists being spotted again on the fringes of the forest near Kukke Subrahmanya in Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka, police have stepped up combing operations in the area.
According to reports reaching Mangaluru, a group of six armed persons with their faces covered by masks visited the house of Shivaram on the fringes of the forest, in Cheru of Kombaru village in Kadaba taluk on April 4 evening. While two persons stood outside the house, four others entered Mr. Shivaram’s house. They ate rice and chicken curry prepared by Mr. Shivaram and left the house with about 5 kg of rice and some groceries. Some members charged their mobile phones in the house, villagers told officials.
Soon after receiving the information, Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) personnel and Dakshina Kannada district police stepped up combing operations in the area.
“We are not sure whether the persons who visited the house are indeed Maoists. We are combing the area,” said Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police C.B. Ryshyanth.
Earlier on March 17, two armed men and two armed women, suspected to be Maoists, were seen in Koojimale near Sampaje, on the border of Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts. Posing as Forest Department officials, they purchased rice and other groceries from a shop before disappearing inside the forest. Subsequently, the suspected Maoist members were spotted in Subrahmanya on March 23 and March 27.
A group of five persons, suspected to be Maoists, were sighted at some houses in Kollur, Mudur, and Belkal villages in Udupi district three times in January and February 2024.
A group of Kannada-speaking Maoists, suspected to be members of ‘Kabini Dalam’, are said to be scouting for new areas in Karnataka to set up their operations, as it has become non-conducive for them to operate in Kerala. The police suspect these members to be Vikram Gowda, Mundagaru Lata, Vanajakshi and John.
There has been significant reduction in the number of members of Kabini Dalam in the last six months. Two Maoists were arrested while three others died, including one who was trampled by an elephant. The group’s alleged vandalism of the office of Kerala Forest Development Corporation in Kambamala, near Wayanad, in September 2023 demanding better residential facilities for plantation workers backfired, and they have been forced to find a new place to set up a base before the monsoon.
Policy for surrendered Naxals
Meanwhile, in March 2024, the Karnataka Government revised its policy of assimilating Maoists in the mainstream. As per the new policy, on surrendering, a high-ranking Maoist group member from Karnataka, who is facing more than one criminal case, will get financial support of ₹ 7.5 lakh. Prominent Maoist group members from outside Karnataka, on surrendering, will get ₹4 lakh while Maoist sympathisers and supporters will get ₹2 lakh each.
The government has revived the State Committee that oversees implementation of the rehabilitation policy of surrendered Maoists, and has included writer Banjagere Jayaprakash, journalist Parvatheesha, and advocate K.P. Sripal in the committee.
