Naxals visit undeveloped SC/ST colony in Shishila

Naxals visit undeveloped SC/ST colony in Shishila

Mangalore Today News Network

Uppinangady,  July 12, 2012 : Senior police officers visited the SC/ST Colony in Ammudange Mucchiradka near Shishila, Belthangady, having heard that a Naxal group had recently visited it.

 

Reportedly, Aravind, son of Mucchiradka Charumba Mugera, had gone to wash clothes in a stream in the forest when he came across a group of Naxals, who had arrived from the Miyar Reserve Forest. They followed him and visited his house on the evening of Tuesday. The news spread rapidly and an Anti Naxal Force (ANF) team under the leadership of Inspector Prasanna Kumar visited the region and began combing it.

The villagers were terrified when they saw the police. They huddled in groups in front of shops and hotels on Wednesday and discussed the recent happenings.

Anucheth, ASP for Puttur, organized a meeting of village leaders in the premises of the Gram Panchayat (GP) and urged the villagers not to support the Naxals. He urged them to quit worrying and inform the police if they come to know of any Naxal activity in the region. The villagers assured the police that they will not support any Naxal and urged them not to torture them in the name of Naxals.

Speaking about his experiences, Aravind said that he came across the Naxals when he was washing clothes in a stream in the forest. The group, which comprised 3 armed men and a woman, told him that they were Naxals and asked questions about problems in the village. Aravind said that he was too scared to speak to them and ran away to his house.

Aniyara, mother of Aravind, said that her son was so scared that he left the clothes beside the stream and came running home. The Naxal team brought the clothes to their house and kept the bundle on the verandah. She said that the woman in the team spoke Tulu.

The villagers informed the police that the forest has a trail from Kudremukh to Holegundi through Kuthloor, Neriya, Gandibagilu, Amedikallu, Kallaru, Ambudedange, and Holegundi. They also said that there is a road from Amedikallu to Mudigere through Yettinabhuja, Bairapura, and Mudigere.

The villagers said that, although Shishila is being developed, the SC/ST colony is still neglected. They feel that the Naxals might have visited the SC/ST colony as several houses in the colony still do not have electricity and most houses have no water connection.

Dhanalakshmi Janardhan, vice president of the ZP; Balakrishna Banajalu, ZP member; Shyamala, president of Shishila GP; and other leaders took part in the meeting. Later that evening, Prathap Reddy, IGP (western range), visited Shishila and interacted with GP members.