Tamil Nadu Timeline 2017

Date

Incidents

January 8

The Q Branch of CID Police arrested an advocate from S. Alangulam village in Madurai District on the charge of having links with CPI-Maoist. The Q Branch CID Police had been conducting surveillance on advocate A. Murugan ever since the two alleged CPI-Maoist cadres - Kala (53) and Chandra (51) - were arrested in Karur District on July 2016. Sources said that Murugan's younger brother, Velmurugan (35), an active CPI-Maoist cadre, was accused in two naxal cases in Varushanadu in Theni District and Uthankarai in Coimbatore District. The advocate used to appear for CPI-Maoist in court. The Q Branch CID team seized a huge quantity of homeopathic medicines allegedly in possession of the advocate, which, sources claimed, were being supplied to some Maoists. A few printed literatures relating to Maoists were also alleged to have been recovered.

The Madras High Court has confirmed life imprisonment for three belonging to TNLA. They were involved in a groups attack at the Puthur Police Station in Cuddalore District on April 6, 1991. TNLA is the armed wing of TNCPML, a splinter group of the CPI-ML. The HC bench has now confirmed life term only for Suba Elavarasan alias Pandian alias Vallavan, Kumar alias Gopalsamy and Amulraj alias Selvam.

Roopesh, Shyna, Anoop, Kannan and Veeramani of the CPI-Maoist were produced before the Principal District Sessions court in Coimbatore District. On the day, the Judge was likely to hear their plea for translation of the charge sheet in either Tamil or English. Their lawyer M. Balamurugan said that portions of the charge sheet were in Malayalam, Hindi and a few other languages that the accused did not understand. As the argument related to the plea went on for some time with the Public Prosecutor objecting to it, Judge R. Pongiappan adjourned the case and said that he would hear the plea on April 17. The five Maoists were arrested in Karumathampatti suburb of Coimbatore District in May 2015.

The NSD of the District Police conducted combing operations at the forest areas of Tamil Nadu-Kerala border in Coimbatore District. SFs conducted the operations to curtail the movements of CPI-Maoist cadres. Maoists' activities were reported from Attappady and Agali Police limits in Palakkad District of Kerala. These two areas are located near Annaikatti in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu. The NSD personnel were given modern weapons and night vision goggles. Deepak M Damor, DIG, Coimbatore range, A Mohan Navas, ASP, NSD, west zone and Police personnel conducted the combing operations at Kalkothypathy, Vediparai, Chinnattumalai and Kovaicourtalam.

A 47-week-long training for CISF women constables has commenced at the CISF's RTC at Thakkolam near Arakkonam in Vellore District. As many as 1,794 women constables recruited by CISF are undergoing training at the centre. The Centre had increased the number of CISF personnel from 1, 45,000 to 1,80,000. According to press release, the personnel would be trained in handling terrorists and Naxals. Training as per the security needs of the country would be imparted to them.

The Periyakulam Sub-Court sentenced six CPI-Maoist cadres, to various terms of rigorous imprisonment at Theni District. CPI-Maoist cadres were convicted under various Sections of the IPC in a case relating to arms training by a group of Maoists in Murugan Malai near Periyakulam.

Two persons from Kerala, who came to meet CPI-Maoist cadres Anoop and Shyna at the Coimbatore Central Prison, were arrested, for carrying a pen drive. Prison authorities, who found the two with the data storage device during physical examination, handed them over to the Race Course Police. According to M. Senthilkumar, Prison Superintendent, the two men - Rashid (38) and Harihara Sharma (33) from Thiruvananthapuram - had come to meet Anoop and Shyna, two of the five Maoists arrested at Karumathampatti in Coimbatore in May 2015, at the prison.

The Tamil Nadu Police produced H. Rasheed (36) S. Harihara Sharma (32) before a Magistrate Court in Coimbatore District. They were arrested on June 12 on the charge of attempting to hand over a pen drive to Anoop Mathew George, or Shyna, both jailed cadres of CPI-Maoist. The Police said that Rasheed was a resident of Malappuram, and Sharma of Thiruvananthapuram.

A former Naxalite, who failed to appear in a murder case trial in a special court was arrested by the Police in Dharmapuri District. The trial in the murder case commenced in the Poonthamalli Special Court in Chennai recently and Kamalanathan (53), of Mallikuttai village, who had served in the Naxal movement for some time, did not appear in the court. Following this, the court issued arrest warrant. A Police team from Denkanikottai Police Station arrested Kamalanathan. Police sources said that Venkatesan, then president of the Thali panchayat in Denkanikottai Police Station limits, was murdered by a group of person way back in 2002.

A wanted woman CPI-Maoist cadre, who jumped bail and was on the run for the past five years, was arrested at gunpoint by the sleuths of Andhra Pradesh SIB near Sennimalai in Erode District. Sources said V Kakarala Padma (45), a native of Andhra Pradesh was arrested when she was on her way to Erode to meet her accomplices. She was first arrested in 2002 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, for giving arms training to Maoist recruits at Uthangarai. Padma was in jail till 2005. After her release, she fought for the rights of women and spearheaded several protests. She has over 10 cases and NSA and UAPA slapped against her. Later, she was arrested and was lodged as an under trial prisoner in Madurai Central Prison. In 2012, she came out on conditional bail and had been absconding ever since.

Madurai-based advocate A. Murugan (39), accused of assisting the cadres of the CPI-Maoist have moved to Madras High Court Bench to seek bail in Madurai District. A. Murugan is in judicial custody since January 8, 2017, in a case booked against him by 'Q' branch CID on charges of serving as a messenger to a group of CPI-Maoist cadres.

Tamil Nadu Police arrested Valarmathi, a second-year journalism student, under the Goondas Act for taking part in the region's oil pipeline protests at Kathiramangalam in Thanjavur District. Police termed her a CPI-Maoist sympathiser. The village has been rocked by continuing protests over an ONGC oil pipeline. Protests first broke out on June 30, 2017 after villagers noticed viscous substance leaking out from an ONGC pipeline in the area.

To monitor the movement of the CPI-Maoist cadres in the reserve forest along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, the Coimbatore Rural Police have deployed six more NSD teams with the field staff of the forest department to conduct combing operations in Coimbatore District. The Police have also created 13 more check-posts in bordering areas to monitor the movement of vehicles round-the-clock. SP, Coimbatore District, Pa Moorthy told that six more NSD teams from other Districts to conduct combing operations in vulnerable areas. Tribal villages in Kerala are infested with Maoists. But there is no movement of Maoists in Tamil Nadu.

A cadre of the CPI-Maoist, Rupesh, was produced before the Principal District Sessions court in Coimbatore District. The session Judge, Pongiyappan, ordered that Rupesh be remanded in judicial custody till August 21. Rupesh was arrested near Coimbatore in 2015.

As part of a three-day routine exercise, the NSDW of the Tamil Nadu Police conducted combing operations in the hilly areas of Vellore and Tiruvallur District. The special wing has presence in 13 Districts of Tamil Nadu, including Tiruvallur, Vellore, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Theni, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari. According to senior Police officers, this is a routine exercise with a three-pronged approach - gathers intelligence about Naxals, understand the problems faced by the villagers and solve them to prevent the village youth from being drawn by the Naxals into their movement. The movement of the Police is expected to reduce Naxal activity in these localities.

IGP, West Zone, A. Pari, told reporters that check posts have been installed and round the clock vigil is maintained particularly in Coimbatore and Ooty Districts areas, that share border with other States, to prevent infiltration of CPI-Maoist cadres. IG Pari said in view of 'Vinayagar Chathurthi', over 8,000 cops including armed reserve Police and Home Guards have been deployed for security. "All sensitive areas will be given additional security, "he said.

To instill confidence among the tribal people and gain their support in anti-Naxal activities, the NSD, a special wing of the District Police, conducted a special awareness programme at Kondanur in Coimbatore District. An official of the wing said, the NSD wing was conducting such programmes once in three or four months in tribal villages to improve rapport with the tribal youths and women. Over four hundred tribal people from 20 villages around Kondanur participated in the event. Sports materials including cricket bat and volley ball for youths, and saris for the women were distributed by ASP, A. Mohan Nawaz of NSD in the presence of Police officials. To counter the movement of Maoists in the hilly terrains and also to prevent people from falling into the clutches of the Maoists, the Police department was regularly conducting such awareness camps in the tribal hamlets, he added.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, DG, of the CRPF told that CRPF plans to focus on the tri-junction area located between Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka following intelligence information that activities by the cadres of the CPI-Maoist are taking place in the Western Ghats says in Coimbatore District. Bhatnagar was in Coimbatore to attend the passing out parade of the 90th batch of 100 directly-appointed subordinate officers at the CTC. Bhatnagar said that they have planned to add five more battalions to CRPF and five exclusive women battalions by January in RAF. He also added that CRPF has made new SOPs for anti-Naxal operations after Sukma District ambush in April 24, 2017, which claimed the lives of 25 CRPF jawans. Speaking on the inclusion of more women in CRPF, he said that one battalion has been raised from Bastar which has got 240 lady recruits.

Roopesh, Shyna, Anoop Mathew, Veeramani and Kannan, the five cadres arrested on charges of CPI-Maoist activities in 2015, were produced before the Coimbatore District and Principal Sessions Court on October 25, reports The Hindu. Principal District Judge R. Pongiyappan posted next hearing in the case on November 8.

One CPI-Maoist cadre, identified as Bhagat Singh (32), who is on the run for five years, surrendered before the SP, P. Rajan in Salem District. Bhagat, a resident of Singarapettai in Uthangarai in Krishnagiri District, was one of the 32 Maoists arrested by the Q branch of Tamil Nadu Police for undergoing arms training in the forests of Oothankarai in 2002.