|
|
Tamil Nadu Timeline 2016
Date
|
Incidents
|
January 21
|
The Madras HC in Tamil Nadu granted
interim bail to five CPI-Maoist cadres, top Maoist leader Roopesh,
head of WGZC of CPI-Maoist, and four others, including his wife
Shyna, who were arrested near Karumathampatti in Coimbatore in
May 4, 2015, by the Q branch Police with a condition to appear
before the Investigating Officer every day for a month.
An inter-State meeting of senior
forest personnel in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala held at Bandipura
in Karnataka, held after an interval of three years, decided to
intensify joint operations to tackle the CPI-Maoist activities
in the forest areas of the region, Pramod G. Krishnan, Chief Conservator
of Forest, (Wildlife, Palakkad), said. The meet offered all assistance
to Police Forces in combing operations to tackle Maoist menace.
As part of this, anti-poaching activities information would be
exchanged each other.
|
February 1 |
A suspected CPI-Maoist, Ranjith, was produced
before the Judicial Magistrate Court in Dindigul District. Judicial
Magistrate C.B. Vedagiri adjourned the case till February 15.
Police claimed that the accused was in Kodaikanal with Naveen
Prasad, who was gunned down in an encounter with the Police, and
was engaged in weapon training. The Police had brought Ranjith
from Tiruchi prison.
|
February 13 |
The Coimbatore Rural Police registered three cases
against CPI-Maoist cadres identified as Roopesh, his wife Shyna
and Anoop Mathew George for using copies of voter Identity Cards
of three people to obtain SIM cards from multiple shops in Pollachi
and surrounding areas.
|
February 22 |
In a late night operation, a team of the Tamil
Nadu's `Q' branch Police arrested a CPI-Maoist cadre at Sriperumbudur
in Kanchipuram District. The 32-year-old man whom Police identified
as Surendra Yadav, confessed that he was involved in a couple
of cases of murder and bomb blasts in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
The Chattisgarh Police had alerted their Tamil Nadu counterparts
about Yadav, who was wanted in several cases.
|
April 1 |
About a dozen armed CPI-Maoist cadres, including
two women cadres, reportedly stormed a village along the Western
Ghats close to the Kerala border in the Nilgiris District of Tamil
Nadu, and addressed a gathering of about 150 tribals. The Maoists
came to the Nedukal Kambai village in the Kolakombai Police Station
limits around 9 p.m. and asked the villagers to gather at a common
place, a couple of them began addressing the gathering, while
others took positions to guard. Making an appeal to the villagers
to join the CPI-Maoist, they released a manifesto promising to
restore land, water and forest rights to the people. During the
hour-long meeting, the Maoists distributed pamphlets and pasted
posters in the village. Calling for strengthening the 'PLGA' to
establish "people's rule", the Maoists urged the tribals, Dalits,
students, women and educated youth to join the armed struggle.
Vowing to render justice to the Munnar tea estate workers, they
appealed to the people to reject the elections which were the
path of corrupt politicians and drive away the STF from the forest
area.
|
June 13 |
Two women CPI-Maoist cadres
surrendered before Bhadrachalam ASP R. Bhaskaran in Khammam District.
|
June 15 |
CPI-Maoist 'state committee member' Gajjala Krishna
Reddy (58) surrendered before IGP, South Zone, N. Sridhar Rao
in Kurnool District. Reddy, who also operated under the names
of Gopal Reddy and Ramana Reddy, carried a reward of INR 400,000
on his head. Reddy, who is suffering from cancer, said he was
disillusioned with the Central Committee's lack of commitment
to the philosophy and ideology, ill-health, and not being given
due importance in the party.
IGP, South Zone, Rayalaseema Range, N. Sridhar
Rao declared that the Nallamalla forests are Naxal-free. The Police
controlled LWE with an iron hand and there was no extremist activity
or any CPI-Maoist recruitment in Nallamalla forests in the last
one decade, he asserted at a media conference at Kurnool. He also
ruled out any chances of revival of the Maoist movement in the
region.
|
June 17 |
CPI-Maoist 'central committee' has given a call
for celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Naxalbari armed
uprising, centenary of the Russian revolution and the bicentenary
of the birth of Karl Marx. In a 10-page statement, the 'general
secretary' of the CPI-Maoist, Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi,
said that all the party units should make "preparations, put maximum
efforts and issue calls to the vast masses to actively and energetically
participate in these celebrations". He called upon his party cadre
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Naxalbari uprising from
May 23 to 29, 2017, the centenary of the Bolshevik Revolution
from November 7 to 13, 2017 and Karl Marx birth bicentenary from
May 5 to 11, 2018. If, for any reason, it was not feasible to
conduct these events on the above mentioned dates, Ganapathi said,
they could be organised in other time of the years of the anniversaries.
"It is to be expected that the enemy will try to create all kinds
of hurdles everywhere to prevent us from organising these anniversaries,
be it in the urban or rural areas. We should be prepared for this
and make realistic and practicable plans to conduct these programmes
successfully in spite of disruptionist efforts", the statement
said. The Maoist party also said that efforts should be made to
organise at least one international programme in any of the Indian
cities on a date agreeable to all participants. As part of these
celebrations, the party has also sought publication of books,
booklets and collection of articles for enhancing the understanding
of Marxism.
|
July 21 |
Three alleged CPI-Maoist cadres were arrested
by the Q branch Police of Tamil Nadu from Karur and Kancheepuram
Districts. They were identified as Reena Joyce Mary (32), Kala
alias Janaki (53) and Chandra (52). Sources said a Police
team traced Reena who was found working in a textile factory at
Padapai on July 21 evening. Based on the information given by
her, another Police team traced Kala and Chandra living in a rented
house at Vengamedu in Karur District. Reena was a suspect in a
2008 encounter between the Police and the Maoists at Kodaikanal.
She was also one of the Maoists arrested in an operation at Uthangarai
in 2002. One of them swallowed a piece of paper on seeing the
Police, onlookers said adding she also shouted pro-Maoist slogans.
|
August 8 |
Coimbatore District Police and intelligence agencies
published the photos of 12 persons, including a woman, in a notice
stating that they are CPI-Maoist cadres on the notice boards of
Police Stations and check posts in Coimbatore District, bordering
Kerala. The persons whose images were published in the list are
Velmurugan, Yogeshmathan, Murthy, Palanivel, Karthik alias
Kannan alias Gopi, Kalidass, Dasarathan, Sathiya Mary alias
Padma, Manivasagam alias Mani and two others. This has
taken place only days after Kerala Police released the images
of 35 Maoists. However, a senior District Police officer said
that they are on the lookout for these accused for more than two
years.
Suspected Maoist Mahalingam (63), who was arrested
in Tiruchur District of Kerala last month, was produced before
Andipatti Magistrate Court in Theni District of Tamil Nadu, in
connection with the case registered for arms training on Varushandu
hill in the District.
|
August 24 |
There has been no movement of CPI-Maoist cadres
in Erode District but special Police teams are scouring forest
areas as a precautionary measure, a senior Police official said.
"There is no movement of Maoists or Naxals in Erode District.
But as a precautionary measure a special team of police personnel
are going round Burgur, Sathyamangalam and other forest arras
in the district", said SP Dr R. Sivakumar.
|
August 28 |
After being in Police custody for two days, Reena
Joyce Mary, a suspected CPI-Maoist cadre, was produced before
the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Dindigul District. The
court adjourned the case till September 9. Amid tight security,
Reena was produced before the court in the morning and later taken
back to Vellore prison. Dindigul Police had taken her under custody
for two days to investigate her involvement in arms training in
Kodaikanal in 2008 along with Naveen Prasad, who was killed in
an encounter during search operation near Moolayar at Vadakaunji
on April 19, 2008. Q-Branch police had arrested Reena in Padappai
in Kanchipuram District on July 21.
|
September 7
|
Reena Joyce Mary, a suspected CPI-Maoist cadre,
was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Dindigul
District. After hearing, the court adjourned the case to September
21. Later, she was taken back to Vellore prison. The Q Branch
Police had arrested Reena in Padappai in Kanchipuram District.
Earlier, the Dindigul Police produced her before the court on
August 26 and sought its permission to take her under its custody.
They took her under its custody for two days to probe her involvement
in arms training in Kodaikanal in 2008 along with Naveen Prasad,
who was gunned down in an encounter during search operation in
2008.
|
October 1
|
The 'Q' branch Police arrested a suspected CPI-Maoist
cadre from Pallikoduthanur in Mettur town in Salem District. S.
Palanivelu (36) allegedly has a case sheet against him and was
also involved in a murder case. According to sources, on a tip-off,
the 'Q' branch Police had been watching the movement of Palanivelu
for the last three months. A special operation arrested him at
a park in Mettur town on October 1 evening. Pamphlets and other
Maoist literature meant for distribution to the public were allegedly
seized from him.
|
October 7 |
Two suspected women CPI-Maoist cadres, who were
arrested in Karur District in July, 2016, were produced before
a Judicial Magistrate court in Karur District, for remand extension.
The duo, Kala (53) and Chandra (51), lodged in the Special Prison
for Women in Tiruchi were taken to the Karur court amid Police
escort. The Judicial Magistrate Court-I extended their remand
till November 4. They were later brought back to the prison, Police
sources said.
|
October 9 |
The SFs of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu decided
to launch a joint operation, following specific intelligence information
that CPI-Maoist had increasingly been using the forest tri-junction
of the southern states as a safe haven. The decision was taken
at a high-level meeting held in Kochi in Ernakulam District of
Kerala, in the wake of the arrest of suspected ISIS sympathisers
in Kerala and the surging Maoist infiltration into South Indian
States. Earlier, intelligence agencies had received information
about a secret meet of the Maoists held in Wayanad on September
14, which was attended by a Maoist 'central committee' member
who was reportedly hiding in the tri-junction area. At the high-level
meeting, a specific strategy was laid out detailing the role of
the security formations of each State, and modalities were worked
out for preventing Maoists from hiding in the border Districts
of Kerala and Karnataka, besides Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. "We received
information from reliable sources that Maoists advancing North
Indian states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were using the tri-junction
area as hideout. The infiltrating extremists include senior Maoist
leaders who control regional operations. A joint action is needed,
considering the possibility of Maoists crossing the border and
escaping to another State when the police force of a particular
state launches crackdown," a senior officer said. However, CRPF
DG, K Durga Prasad said that ever since SFs intensified their
crackdown, threat from LWEs had come down in the Southern States.
|
October 22 |
A huge flex board displaying images of 32 suspected
CPI-Maoist cadres and seeking the cooperation of public in arresting
them, has been erected by Police and Forest Department, at a check
post on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu Border. The board was put up in
the wake of reports of infiltration of suspected Maoists, who
held a secret meeting in a village in Kerala, near the Tamil Nadu
Border last month, they said. Police and Forest Department officials
put up the board to enable the public to identify the Maoists,
who include a few women, and to pass on information they might
have, they added.
|
November 22 |
The NSD teams from Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tirupur,
Erode, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri Districts have been asked to
stop CPI-Maoist infiltration in Western Tamil Nadu. The state
internal security officials told the team leaders that Andhra
Pradesh and Odisha Police encountered 30 CPI-Maoist cadres in
October 24-27 in AOB region. The DIG (Internal Security), C Eswaramoorthy,
told that CPI-Maoist members should not enter Tamil Nadu forest
areas and we should not allow them to create their base in the
State. He also advised the NSD teams to create good rapport with
the tribals in Western Tamil Nadu so that they could pass on information
about suspicious movements in forest areas.
|
November 28 |
The Coimbatore City Police arrested two the CPI-Maoist
sympathisers for sticking posters in Ukkadam area in Coimbatore
District. They were later released on bail. The men, identified
as Parthiban and Dinesh, were picked up by the Police and were
booked under the Tamil Nadu Open Places Prevention of Disfigurement
Act. They had stuck posters supporting the Maoist movement and
against the anti-Maoists actions of the Police department. The
two men, who are members of the SAMSW, had already been booked
in other cases including a case registered in Pollachi in connection
with a missing man joining the Maoist movement. In the posters,
the men had elaborated on the atrocities by the Police. They demanded
that special Police units be dismantled and not allowed to function
as, in the name of encounters, they were murdering innocent people
who were fighting for their rights. The posters stated that the
two men were against state repression. There were contact numbers
on the posters. Police officials said the men had not applied
for permission to stick the posters.
|
December 9 |
The CPI-Maoist lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison
will observe a day-long fast on December 16. They will be fasting
to condemn the recent encounter killing of two Maoist leaders
inside the forest in Nilambur in Malappuram District of Kerala.
The protest is also to demand that the Kerala Government register
a murder case against 'Thunderbolt', the anti-Maoist squad of
the Kerala Police, and also to seek a magisterial probe. Sources
said the Maoists lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison - Shyna,
Roopesh, Veeramani, Kannan and Anoop - will take part in the protest.
Suspected Maoists lodged in the prisons in Tiruchi, Chennai, Vellore,
Palayamkottai observed a fast.
|
December 16 |
Three of five CPI-Maoist cadres lodged in the
Central Jail in Coimbatore District, observed a day-long fast
to condemn the 'encounter' killing of two CPI-Maoist leaders near
Nilambur in Kerala. The three inmates, Roopesh, Anoop and Veeramani
refused to take breakfast and lunch to protest the killings, which
they termed as a "planned encounter," jail sources said. However,
two others, Shyna, wife of Roopesh and Kannan, who were arrested
18 months ago from Karumathampatti on the outskirts, did not participate
in the hunger strike, they said.
|
December 18 |
The Police Department, earlier this week, reached
out to the residents of Kulithuraipatti and Nandhipuram in Bhavani
Sagar limits of Erode District. The Police also handed over benefits
as part of its efforts to protect them from influence of Naxalites.
SP, R. Sivakumar and other senior officials interacted with the
residents and gave an assurance to liaise with the District Administration
on their behalf for provision of basic amenities. The officials
urged the residents to pass on information about suspicious looking
persons immediately to the Police.
|
Source:Compiled from news reports and
are provisional.
|