Combing operations intensified near Sringeri after suspected Naxal movement

CHIKKAMAGALUR: After decades, suspected movement of Naxalites has been reported in the district and the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) is on high alert and is taking up combing operations along with a dog squad in the Western Ghats. Senior officials including ANF SP Jitendra Kumar Dayam, Chikkamagalur SP Vikram Amte and IGP (West) Amit Singh are also camping in the district.

It is said that a group of six Naxalites visited a small hamlet on the edge of the forest in Sringeri taluk last week. The ANF and the police had also picked up two youths, said to be Naxal sympathisers, from Yedagunda village near Megur in Koppa taluk for questioning. The two youths had gone to Bengaluru to bring a letter related to hardcore Naxalite from Kerala, Mundagaru Latha, when they were apprehended.

Sringeri, Kalasa and Koppa taluks in the district have thick forests and the Naxal activities are suspected to have increased in Malnad region. Following the developments, the ANF has started combing operations while the police have stepped up investigations.