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Karnataka Timeline 2009
Date
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Incidents
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January 18
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Four landmines, concealed near
a bridge, were recovered and defused by the Police at Kyatagana
Perla village near Pavagada in the Tumkur District. Police said
a senior CPI-Maoist cadre, Peddanna, who was in the custody of
the Andhra Pradesh Police and had been brought by the Pavagada
Police for questioning in the Venkataramanahalli incident in which
nine Policemen were shot dead, revealed that he had concealed
the landmines under a bridge.
Two suspected armed cadres of
the CPI-Maoist managed to escape on the plea of bringing the arms
license from their home when Policemen tried to arrest them during
a combing operation in the Nooralbettu forest of Udupi District.
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February 4 |
A joint combing operation was
launched by the Police and Anti-Naxal Squad to arrest the CPI-Maoist
cadres who had attacked the villagers at Bidargodu in the Theerthahli
taluk of Shimoga District. The security personnel carried
out search operation in Maoist affected villages of Hosagadde,
Karekumbri, Malndur, Balehalli, Gardergadde, Nemmaru and Bukkibyle
in the Agumbe area. Wall posters pasted by the CPI-Maoist cadres
justifying their assaults on the villagers were found in the Bidragodu
village.
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February 20 |
Literature belonging to the CPI-Maoist denouncing
development projects being taken up against the wishes of locals
was found at Kabbinale under Hebri Police Station limits in the
Udupi District. In addition, a person, identifying himself as
belonging to the Vishwa Karavali area committee of the CPI-Maoist,
called up an office at Mangalore stating that they had put up
the posters denouncing such projects and asking its promoters
to stop work.
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March 2 |
The anti-Naxal force have intensified combing
operations after a group of CPI-Maoist cadres visited a house
in a village near Hebri, a CPI-Maoist affected location, in the
Udupi District.
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March 5 |
The CPI-Maoist held a meeting of the villagers
after conducting a house-to-house visit to invite the villagers
to the meeting at Talagar near Bukkadibail in Sringeri taluk
in the Chikmaglur District. The CPI-Maoist cadres, identified
as B G Krishnamurty, Mundagar Lata and Prabha, were among the
five-member Maoist team which organized the meeting. They also
paid 'glorious tributes' to the slain CPI-Maoist cadres, Manohar,
Devaiah and Ravi, who died in Police encounters, sang 'revolutionary
songs' and criticised the Government policies.
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March 17 |
Two constables of the Anti-Naxal Force were injured
when a group of armed CPI-Maoist cadres lobbed grenades at the
SF personnel during a combing operation in the forests near Matuvalli
village in the Sringeri Taluk of Chikmagalur District.
The Maoists exploded about eight grenades during the encounter,
which immediately followed the incident, added the report.
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March 18 |
The DGP Ajai Kumar Singh said at a press conference
in Sringeri that the Karnataka Police will further strengthen
the anti-Naxal force by infusing additional officials besides
making strategic changes to control left-wing extremist activities
in the Western Ghats. According to the DGP, "Four Deputy Superintendents
of Police and 200 personnel will be provided additionally to the
Force."
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March 24 |
Eight cadres of the CPI-Maoist visited houses
in and around Muklupadi and Murantebail near Muniyal in the Udupi
District and distributed pamphlets. The Maoists called on the
residents to boycott the forthcoming Parliamentary elections in
April 2009. The Maoists also pasted the same pamphlet at the Muklupadi
bus terminal.
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April 12 |
Police arrested three sympathizers of the CPI-Maoist
and recovered a huge cache of explosives in three separate incidents
in the Chikmagalur District. In a joint operation launched in
Koppa, Sringeri, N. R. Pura, Jayapura and Belehonnur, Police seized
100 kilograms of explosive material, ammonium nitrate, 50 gelatine
sticks, 10 detonators and pamphlets containing Maoist literature
from the house of a person, identified as Nazir, in the Kachige
village of Megunda revenue division. Based on information extracted
from Nazir, they later raided the house of one Hamid from Baisigadde
in Heggarkodige and recovered 23 detonators, 150 kilograms of
explosives, ammonium nitrate and 70 gelatine sticks. In addition,
Manju and Afsar, who were carrying explosives within the Balehonnur
Police Station limits, were also arrested and 33 detonators, 58
gelatine sticks, 100 metres of electric wire, five kilograms of
explosives and ammonium nitrate were recovered from their possession.
According to the Superintendent of Police M. N. Nagaraj, the arrestees
were tacitly supporting Maoist activities.
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April 28 |
Five CPI-Maoist cadres and 30 of their sympathizers
were arrested from unspecified locations as a preventive measure
in the wake of the call for boycott by the outfit of the Lok
Sabha (lower house of Indian Parliament) polls ahead of the
third phase on April 30. Police sources said three of the arrested
Maoists were involved in triggering off an explosion by throwing
a hand grenade at Matholli in Sringeri recently, in which two
Policemen were injured. Two other Maoists were wanted in connection
with a murder case at Odeyarmath in Sringeri.
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May 5 |
Chikmagalur District Police arrested six left-wing
extremists from Sringeri in connection with a string of attacks
that took place in the region in the last four years. The arrested
extremists included Vijaya Kumar, an activist of the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party and two forest department employees.
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May 30 |
The Anti-Naxal Force arrested two CPI-Maoist cadres,
identified as Suresh Nay and his wife Horale Saroja, and seized
a cache of arms, ammunition and Maoist literature from their possession
in Tumkur District. "Two 9 mm carbines without barrels, 28 live
cartridges of 88 mm rifle, 129 cartridges of 7 mm rifle, 83 cartridges
of 0.303 rifles, 86 gelatin sticks, 200 detonators and Maoist
literature were recovered from their possession," said DGP Ajai
Kumar. The arrested duo was involved in the burning of a State
owned Transport Corporation bus at Agumbe in the Shimoga District
on July 1, 2007, Singh added.
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June 1 |
A joint team of the ANF and Police led by the
Beltangady Circle Inspector Gangi Reddy recovered 10 guns and
arrested a person during a search operation at a illegal gun manufacturing
unit located in the Kavalamudoor village of South Kanara District.
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June 14 |
The Hubli-Dharwad Police arrested a woman, identified
as Vijaya Nayak, the 26-year old daughter of Suresh Nayak of Belalakatte,
for suspected links with the CPI-Maoist late in the evening of.
She was arrested near Old Hubli bridge when she was returning
to her village in a bus. Sources said Vijaya was a friend of Maoist
Manohar, who was killed in an encounter in November 2008. After
Manohar''s death, she had come out of the Maoist camp due to failing
health. She had reportedly come to Hubli from Shiralakoppa via
Gadag to get medical aid. She got herself examined at Karnataka
Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli on June 13 and was on her
way back when the Police arrested her.
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July 24 |
The CPI-Maoist urged tribals who are living in
Kudremukh National Park area in Chikmagalur District to take up
their traditional weapons to fight the State Government and to
protect themselves from eviction. In a letter sent to newspaper
offices, the Maoist Area Committee member Kamala said until now
the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was spreading just religious
communalism to oppress minorities but now it has assumed a fascist
face and started training guns on farmers, tribals and workers.
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August 17 |
A group of 13 cadres of the CPI-Maoist entered
the house of Narasimha Murty, father of the Dakshina Kannada District
Crime Intelligence Bureau Inspector Venkatesh Prasanna, located
at Kigga near Sringeri in Chikmagalur District in the night and
threatened the family members of dire consequences, before leaving.
While three of the cadres reportedly had .303 guns with them,
three others had AK-47 guns. The other cadres wielded SLRs.
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August 21 |
Police personnel were engaged in an exchange of
fire with a group of Maoists at Edadalli, about 125 kilometres
from Chikmagalur, an unnamed Police official said. The reports
said that a Police team which spotted 10 Maoists during combing
operations launched in the morning, asked them to surrender but
the insurgents opened fire. The encounter between the two sides
continued till the afternoon. Two Naxalites were injured in the
incident. Police also recovered army grenades, electronic detonators,
radio, walkie-talkie, large quantity of ammunition, condoms, medicines,
letters addressed to different media groups, household utensils
among other things from the encounter site.
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August 22 |
In the second such incident in two days in Karnataka,
the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) and Naxalites (Left-Wing extremists)
exchanged fire at Alamadi village near Augumbe in the Shimoga
District. According to reports, a group of extremists fired at
the Police team, which was combing the area following a tip-off
about the movement of the Naxalites.
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September 13 |
A group of cadres of the CPI-Maoist led by B.
G. Krishamurty, comprising Mundagaru Lata, Hosagadde Prabha, Srimati
and four other women cadres, threatened the villagers of Sheerlu
village of Sringeri taluk (revenue division) in Chikmagalur
District with dire consequences when the Maoists had to retreat
from the village due to stiff resistance offered by the villagers.
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September 22 |
The State Government agreed to provide night vision
goggles and bullet-proof jackets to the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF)
to combat armed Naxals (left wing extremists) in the Kudremukh
foothills of Chikmagalur District and all other Naxalite-affected
areas. The Western Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Gopal
Hosur said that 543 ANF personnel, working in Chikmagalur, South
Kanara and Udupi Districts, will get these gadgets and bullet-proof
helmets. "Orders have been placed with BEL Company at Machalipattana
who manufacture night vision glasses at the cost of Rs 1.96 lakh",
Gopal Hosur said, adding, "These things are very much necessary
while tracking their movements in night in the terrain."
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October 13 |
Two sympathisers of the CPI-Maoist, identified
as Narayanan (32) and Chandru (28), were arrested while pasting
posters relating to left-wing extremism in the Chikmagalur District.
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October 24 |
Cadres of the CPI-Maoist visited three villages
- Koodlu in the Udupi District, Melugadde in Shimoga District
and Uluvadi in the Sringeri taluk (administrative division)
of Chikmagalur District. The Maoists sought support from the villagers
and urged them not to inform the Police. A 22-member CPI-Maoist
team visited nearly 20 houses. It is learnt that Vikram Gowda
paid visit to Udupi District and B. G. Krishnamurthy to Chikmagalur
District along with their team.
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October 28 |
The Government of Karnataka will rehabilitate
Maoists who are willing to lay down arms, according to Home Minister
V. S. Acharya. At the inauguration of the Internal Security Wing
office Acharya confirmed that the Government will help Maoists
who want to surrender. According to him, Maoist activity in Karnataka
is lower than in other parts of the country. "The Police are doing
well to control sporadic incidents," he said.
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November 20 |
The Police arrested three suspected CPI-Maoist
cadres in Bangalore. The arrestees were identified as Asha, Devendrappa
alias Vishnu and Geetha alias Gangamma. Mahesh alias Kiran (31),
a native of Raichur who had been residing in Bangalore, was arrested
at the KSRTC bus stand on November 19. On interrogation, he had
revealed that he was a member of the CPI-Maoist and 'state secretary'
of Karnataka Janandolana Samithi. Based on his disclosure
and on inputs from Andhra Pradesh Police, a joint raid was conducted
by Karnataka Anti-Terrorist Cell and Shimoga Police at Muddamma
Badavane, Chikkabanavara in Bangalore and the three were arrested.
Devendrappa, a law dropout, had been active as
a student leader and organised the students through Pragathipara
Vidyarthi Kendra. He later joined the 'central committee' of the
Maoist movement as a member. Devendrappa was also involved in
the Panchavati Colony movement organized by Parvathi, who had
been killed in the Idu encounter. Police said he had narrowly
escaped during that encounter. He also worked in Vimukti,
a magazine edited by Saketh Rajan, who was killed in the Menasinahadya
encounter. Asha studied at Sahyadri College and Kuvempu University
and was active in theatre.
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November 27 |
The Director-General and Inspector-General of
Police Ajai Kumar Singh said that a two-pronged strategy was needed
to deal with Naxalism (left wing extremism), which was not serious
in Karnataka compared to other States. "Since it is a socio-economic
problem, we must listen to their problems and take remedial measures,
which the Government is doing. Also, as there is an element of
violence, the Police have a role to play," he added. He said that
with a view to making the Police Department more accountable and
ensuring greater transparency, a notice board with contact numbers
of senior officers in the District had been displayed in front
of every Police Station in the State. Also, similar boards were
displayed at central bus stands in District headquarters which
displayed the contact number of the office of the Director-General
of Police (DGP). People could directly report their grievances
to senior officers or to the office of the DGP.
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December 16 |
The Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) has launched combing
operations against the Naxals (Left Wing Extremism) holed up in
the thick forests of the Western Ghats spread across Udupi, Chikmagalur
and Shimoga Districts. According to Police sources, the operation,
which will last for three days have been taken up jointly by the
state Reserve Police, ANF and the civil Policemen. The teams have
been provided with Global Positioning System to keep track of
each other after they fan out.
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