The Hindu : Karnataka News : STF personnel yet to get the promised Govt. reward

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 19, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

STF personnel yet to get the promised Govt. reward

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: The Special Task Force of the State police which is poised to begin its operations against naxalites in the Malnad and border areas of the State, is yet to receive the reward from the Government for killing the forest brigand, Veerappan, in October 2004.

The Karnataka-Tamil Nadu Joint STF headed by K.C. Vijayakumar (Tamil Nadu) and Jyoti Prakash Mirji (Karnataka) gunned down Veerappan and his associates, who had eluded arrest for more than two decades.

Immediately after the killing of Veerappan, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, announced cash awards and a house site to each of the Tamil Nadu STF personnel involved in the operations.

Following the neighbouring State's gesture, the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, too announced that the Government would reward its STF personnel.

He told presspersons on Wednesday that the Government had already held four meetings on distributing awards and would make an announcement soon (the Government had announced that each of the STF personnel would be given a house site in his home town as a gift besides the cash reward).

The Principal Secretary (Home), Brahm Dutt, recently said that the Chief Minister's office had submitted files to the Finance Department for release of money to give cash awards to STF personnel.

However, the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, who holds the Finance portfolio, said that he has not received any such files.

As many as 570 STF personnel will commence combing operations in the Malnad and border areas of the State to end the naxal menace.

Govt. blamed

The Bharatiya Janata Party has held the Government responsible for the increased naxalite activities in the State.

Addressing presspersons here, the President of the State unit of the BJP Yuva Morcha and MLA for Chikmagalur, C.T. Ravi, demanded that the Chief Minister should resign over the killing of a member of the Koppa Taluk Panchayat member, Seshappa Gowda, by naxalites on Tuesday night in Chikmagalur.

He also demanded the immediate arrest of pro-naxal social activists such as Gauri Lankesh, Nagari Babaiah and Sridhar. He urged the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to dismiss the Dharam Singh Government on the grounds of its alleged failure to maintain law and order in the State.

The Government has adopted a pro-naxal stand to stay in power.

It has been treating naxalism as a socio-economic problem, which is not true, Mr. Ravi said. The naxalites should be treated like as terrorists, he said and demanded that the Government soon provide compensation of Rs. 10 lakhs to the family of Seshappa Gowda.

Dharna

A group of BJP MLAs from the Malnad region staged a dharna in front of the official chamber of the Chief Minister in the Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday protesting against the killing of Seshaappa Gowda by naxalites. Led by Mr. Ravi, the BJP legislators blamed the Government for the death. The Government is continuing to harp on the theory that the rise of naxalism in the State is because of socio-economic reasons.

Naxalites are turning out to be a menace, they said.

They lifted the dharna only after the Chief Minister came out of his chamber and explained the steps being taken by the Government to eliminate the naxalite problem.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka