The Hindu : Karnataka News : Maoists reject offer for talks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Maoists reject offer for talks

By Our Staff Correspondent

HASSAN/BANGALORE, FEB. 22. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) has rejected the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh's offer for talks. In a press release here on Tuesday, the Maoists claimed the responsibility for killing seven policemen at Venkatammanahalli in Pavagada taluk of Tumkur district and said the attack was to avenge the killing of the naxalite leader, Saket Rajan and his associate, Shivalingu, in Menasinahadya of Chikmagalur district.

The release issued by Gangadhar of the Maoist State Committee gave details of how Saket Rajan and Shivalingu were killed. It said there are doubts over the police claim that Saket Rajan and Shivalingu were killed an encounter.

The release said a team of six members, including Saket Rajan and Shivalingu, visited Menasinahadya and surrounding villages on February 5 and stayed in a nearby forest. They woke up early in the morning to reach Balige village. Two members of the team were sent to Menasinahadya on an important assignment.

While the four members were traversing the hilly area, they heard noises on a nearby road and sent two members to find out what it was. When Shivalingu, who was suffering from malaria, and Saket Rajan were descending the hill, the police shot at them, it said.

Shivalingu died of bullet injuries and Saket Rajan who had taken cover behind a small rock began to fire at the police who had surrounded him. Saket Rajan, who had earlier asked one of the members over walkie-talkie to reach the place where they had stayed on the night of February 5, could not join them as he had suffered a bullet-hit.

It said Saket Rajan then asked them to escape. The police who had surrounded Saket Rajan snatched the walkie-talkie from him and shot him dead following orders from their higher-ups.

Instead of arresting Saket Rajan the police killed him in a barbaric manner and cooked up a story saying that 12 policemen had fought valiantly with the naxals and killed two of them, it said.Apprehensive of the public sympathy that might arise for the slain naxalites, the police cremated the bodies, the release said. The release said the Peoples Guerrilla Liberation Army of Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh had avenged the death of the Maoist leaders of Karnataka.

Regretted

Regretting the death of policemen in the attack, Gangadhar said the Government had stationed a battalion to curb naxalite activities in Pavagada taluk, and in the fight between fascist forces and People's War, the policemen were killed. Blaming the Government for the killing of policemen, he criticised its decision to file cases against the revolutionary poet, Varavara Rao, balladeer Gaddar and the farmers of Venkatammanahalli.

Defending the retaliatory act as inevitable to safeguard the rights of working classes, he said the naxalites were not armed when they started protesting against the eviction of tribal people from the Kudremukh National Park area. When the police began to terrorise people involved in the movement, they were forced to take up arms.

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