Karnataka (Maoist Insurgency): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2013

The Kerala State Police are in touch with their counterparts in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to launch an extended jungle operation to deny an armed group, suspected to be Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, safe haven in the northern forests of Kerala, reports The Hindu. Senior officials told The Hindu here on Sunday that the Home Department had requested the Centre to allocate, at the earliest, at least three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force’s Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), for the proposed joint operation. The intelligence wing has reported to the government that the armed group was sighted at least 16 times this year in the State’s deep forests contiguous with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, including Nilambur. Read less...

Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres on June 9 set ablaze the motorbike of a villager in Shirlu village of Sringeri tehsil (revenue unit), Chikmagalur District, some 5 kms from NH 13, warning him not to support the Government’s rehabilitation package for forest dwellers, reports The Deccan Chronicle. The attack on the villager, Kempanna is the first incident of its kind in over a year in the region. While Shirlu village has always been known to be sympathetic to the Maoist cause, Kempanna has reportedly been voicing his support for the rehabilitation package of the Government, angering the Maoists. Read less...

Karnataka Home Minister K J George on June 12 informed the State Legislative Council that Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) in the State have entered Kodagu and Chamarajanagar Districts, following massive combing operations in 13 tehsils (revenue unit) of Malnad region (Belgaum, Shimoga, Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu and Hassan Districts), reports The Deccan Herald. George said the LWEs have gone into hiding in these two Districts after they were pushed out by the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) with rigorous combing and sanitisation operations. Read less...

Irked by reports in a section of the media, Karnataka Home Minister K.J. George on June 15 said, “We have not declared a war against Naxals [left Wing Extremists (LWEs)]…who said so?”, reports The Hindu. Speaking at a special interaction with reporters at the Police Commissioner’s office in Bangalore George said that he was unhappy with reports in a section of the media that the State Government has declared a war against left wing extremism. “They [Naxals] are also our people. We will deal with them within the democratic framework. I once again welcome them to come forward for talks. The government is more than willing to discuss issues of development and atrocities against tribal people,” he said. Speaking of the State’s plans to wean young and impressionable youth away from Maoist ideologues, George said that the Government wants to recruit young tribal boys and girls for the police force. “They are physically very strong and would make excellent policemen and women,” he said adding that 8,000 new recruitments will be made soon. Read less...

The State Government is ready to hold talks with the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) and it would welcome any Maoists who wanted to surrender themselves and join the mainstream of life, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in Bangalore on June 18, reports The Hindu. In an interaction with the media at his official residence, Siddaramaiah maintained that the Left-wing extremism (LWE) problem was ‘not very serious’ in Karnataka. “Only three or four Districts are affected by this problem,” he said. However, his Government was serious in taking up development work in backward regions and forest areas prone to Left-wing extremism. Asked whether Karnataka’s stand on the issue was not contrary to the Union government’s decision to act tough on Maoists, Siddaramaiah said, “This is the stand of [my] Government. We appeal to all those involved in these activities to come forward for a dialogue across the table.” State Home Minister K.J. George said on that the Government would recruit 8,000 Police personnel this year in the State. Addressing presspersons after chairing a review meeting on the implementation of development work in naxalite-affected areas, George said that there was a shortage of 19,000 police personnel as recruitment had not been taken up in the last three or four years. As far as Maoist-affected areas were concerned, the Police would recruit tribal youth from these areas. It would provide some relaxation in education and other parameters while recruiting policemen in these areas. The Government would set up an Anti-Terrorist Squad in the place of Anti-Naxalite Force. This squad will be given training not only in dealing with terrorism but also jungle warfare. To a question, George said that the Chief Minister had urged the Centre to include Karnataka in the list of Maoist-affected States to get more funds for development work in such areas. Asked how the list of Maoist-affected Districts had gone up from four to seven in the State, he said that when the Police took action in the affected Districts, the Maoists moved to the neighbouring Districts. There were about 30 Maoists in the State. Some of these 30 were from other States. The Government had hiked the amount paid under the Maoist surrender package. The relief amount for a surrendering Maoist had been increased from INR 200,000 to Rs. 500,000, he said and added that the amount for surrendering an AK-47 rifle had been increased from INR 15,000 to INR 30,000. Read less...