Did the Anti-Naxal Force commit a blunder in arresting Vittala, a student of mass communication and journalism from Mangalore University, along with his father Linganna (53) on charges of supporting the CPI (Maoist) and sedition from their house in Kutlur village in Belthangady taluk?
Vittala belongs to the Malekudiya tribe and is the only youth from the ST community to have taken up higher studies. While ANF sources told Deccan Chronilce that with the arrest of Vittala they are trying to get “under the skin” of the Maoist sympathisers and send a strong message to others with similar affiliations, the Intelligence agencies have strongly criticised the move. “This was a wrong move, because the ANF will get further alienated from the villagers in the Malnad region, who are caught between the Maoists and the ANF. The ANF needs their support and goodwill to counter the growing Naxal movement in the state. The Karnataka government should act immediately and implement development activities to improve the socio-economic status of the Malekudiyas,” said an Intelligence officer.
He added that the CPI (Maoists) are using the Malnad region for building a “strong cadre” and strengthening the Karna-taka State Committee, currently headed by Veera-mani alias Gangadhar.
“Though Veeramani is a Tamilian, he is conversant with Karnataka including Bengaluru and often visits the City,” the officer added. According to the statistics available with the Intelligence Bureau and the ANF, there are around “60 young cadres from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, who are being trained in strategic warfare in the forests of Dakshina Kannada with arms and ammunitions smuggled from the neighbouring states, because entry into Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand has become difficult due to the heavy deployment of the Central Reserve Paramilitary Forces,” said the officer.
On March 2, the ANF stumbled upon 10 live training camps of the Naxalites with firearms and explosives after an exchange of fire with the Maoists at Malavantige village in Belthangady taluk, about 75 km from Mangalore in which top Naxal leaders Vikram Gowda and Mundagar Latha were reportedly present.
“The Maoists move in small groups (tukdis). Their field craft doesn’t allow more members because they can become easy targets,” he added.