The Hindu : Karnataka News : A severe blow to the naxal movement

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

A severe blow to the naxal movement

By K.V. Subramanya

BANGALORE, FEB. 7. The naxalite movement in the State has suffered a severe blow following the death of its top leader as well as a historian, Saketh Rajan, in an encounter with the police in Chikmagalur district on Sunday.

Rajan, who had aliases such as Prem and Gangadhar, was said to be the "brain and spine" of the movement in the State. Rajan was said to have been a member of the Central Committee of People's War (PW) before it recently merged with the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist-Leninist).

The Central Committee, had 21 members, including Rajan and Ramesh, alias Balaji, a full-time worker from Karnataka, according to sources in the State Intelligence.

Those connected with the frontal organisations of the PW in the State say that Rajan was instrumental in the naxalite movement gaining ground in the Malnad area, where the naxalites have taken up the cause of tribal people. He was associated with the movement for nearly two decades and had worked for strengthening the movementin Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is said that he was trained in the use of arms in Andhra Pradesh and was "underground" for the past 15 years.

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