Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Jan 1: The naxals, who made their appearance for the first time in the taluk in Basriberu in Jadkal gram panchayat  by organizing a public meeting in the year 2001 and warning the forest department not to stop the tribals from collecting the forest produce, have again been  conducting camps in the village since the last few days. The locals say, that a naxal gang with more than 23 people, has been actively moving about in Basriberu, Tarekodlu, Mudoor etc., since about a week.

Reportedly, the naxals were seen at Belkalteerta near Mudoor on Monday December 29. The locals are apprehensive, as the naxal movement at the foot of the Western Ghats in Kollur sancturay here, is sure to attract regular visits by the police officials. The policemen, under suspicion that the villagers might have provided shelter and food to the naxals, subject them to intensive interrogations every time they get news of naxal visits.  It is presumed, that after killing farmer Keshav Yadiyala from Hallihole village on Dcember 7, the naxals hid themselves in the thick forests of Kollur sanctuary.

The Anti Naxal Force, with the support of the additional commando force and the special police squad, has been conducting search operations in Kollur, Jadkal, Mudoor and other villages here.  The local people also say, that the forest officials have not been venturing into the forests for the fear of naxals since the last several years and that the naxal movement has made it convenient for smugglers to grow hemp in large tracts of the forest land deep inside the forests here.