The Hindu : Karnataka News : Govt. rushing STF team to tackle naxalites

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 06, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Govt. rushing STF team to tackle naxalites

By Muralidhara Khajane

HASSAN, FEB. 5. Despite strong opposition from social and political organisations on the decision to deploy the Special Task Force (STF) to check naxalite menace in the Kudremukh National Park (KNP) area, the State Government is rushing a 350-strong contingent to the Malnad area in the next few days.

The Director-General and Inspector General of Police, S.N. Borkar, told The Hindu that the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Jayaprakash Nayak, will head the operation and the Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao, will support him.

The location to set up base camp has not been finalised so far.

The headquarters may be set up at Kudremukh, Sringeri or Chikmagalur, he said.

According to sources, additional forces have already been sent to Sringeri.

The Statement of the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, in the Legislative Council that the STF will be deployed to contain the naxalite menace, has evoked strong opposition from various quarters.

Opposition

The Communist Party of India, the Kudremukh Rashtriya Udyana Virodhi Okkuta (KRUVO) and the Communist Party of India (Maoists) have opposed the deployment of STF.

The KRUVO president, Kalkuli Vittal Hegde, said the Government's decision will only multiply the problems being faced by the people in the region. He told The Hindu that though it is being claimed that the operation would be "atrocity free," innocent tribal people will become targets.

Rally

Mr. Hegde said that a rally will be held in Sringeri on February 21 and another one in Bangalore in March opposing the deployment of STF.

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