Tamil Nadu Timeline 2014

Date

Incidents

January 31

Naxal Special Duty wing of the Dharmapuri District Police seized 332 gelatine sticks and 600 electric detonators from the house of a farmer in Thonnaiyankottai near Karimangalam in Dharmapuri District.

Combing operations were intensified in Tamil Nadu forests to flush out CPI-Maoist cadres after a four-member armed squad threatened a Police Constable in Kerala with dire consequences if officials of three southern states tried to prevent their activities in tribal areas.

Six persons, who were allegedly being trained by Naxals for the past six months in Dharmapuri and Andhra Pradesh, were arrested by the Police at Natham Colony in Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu.

One person suspected to be supplying explosives to CPI-Maoist in Odisha, was arrested at his residence in NGO Colony in Sattur town in Virudhunagar District.

Six persons, identified as S. Sakthi (38), M. Durai (46), C. Santhosh (22), S. Adhiyaman (22), G. Ashokan (27), and G. Shankar (36,) of Natham Colony in Naikankottai village in Dharmapuri District, who were arrested by the Dharmapuri Police on June 28 for their alleged participation in arms training given by the associates of elusive CPI-Maoist leader Kalidass, were detained under the NSA.

The Maoists are making efforts to strengthen its influence in South India, particularly on the tri-junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, said Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju in Lok Sabha. He further said Maoist's plans include creating a base on the border of Kerala and Karnataka.

'CRPF has effectively stopped the CPI-Maoist from recruiting Naxals from villages, said CRPF IG (southern state), Mandava Vishnuvardhana Rao, who was speaking at the CRPF training college at Kurudampalayam in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu. "Maoist movements have been controlled in various states by the CRPF. There is no fresh recruitment from tribal villages and Naxalism will end soon," said Rao.

'Vigil has been stepped up at Kinnakorai, Geddhai, Hiriyaseegai, Upper Bhavani and Manjoor in Tamil Nadu and the surroundings along the Kerala border in the Nilgiris following reports of CPI-Maoist activity in some of the tribal villages in the Kerala forests. This comes in the wake of intensified combing operations across the border in Kerala. Security Personnel in Kerala had been combing Karikankunnu, Varadimalai, Mel Thottam and Mukkoli near Attappadi in Kerala in search of nine suspected Maoists reportedly engaged in propaganda among tribals for the past three months.

'Two persons, identified as Soman (45) and Rajesh (27), were arrested near Gudalur in Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu, in connection with a case relating to the manufacture of country made guns. Police said, a country made gun was recovered from a jeep found abandoned in the Pandiyar forest range. Investigations led to the arrest of Soman, an ironsmith who used his unit to manufacture guns. A few country made weapons were seized from the unit. Later, Rajesh, a buyer, was arrested. Since the accused was residing near the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, and it is suspected that CPI-Maoist activity was on the rise in some areas there, various agencies have started probing the matter.

The Dharmapuri District Police and the forest department launched a joint search operation for eight people, including two women, who are said to be staying in the reserve forest in Morappur division.