Karnataka - Hassan   

State competent enough to combat naxal activities: Acharya

Stopover: Home Minister V.S. Acharya, Primary and Higher Education Minister Viswanath Hegde Kageri and Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat at Hassan helipad on Tuesday. Also seen are Superintendent of Police K.V. Sharatchandra and District BJP president Navile Annappa.

Hassan: Karnataka Government is competent enough to combat naxal activities in the State and for the purpose Anti-Naxal Force has already been formed, said Home Minister V.S. Acharya in Hassan on Tuesday.

Addressing presspersons at Hassan helipad, Mr. Acharya said that naxal activities were limited to Chikmagalur, Mangalore, Udupi and Shimoga districts, where the literacy rate is high and there is economic growth due to which there is no unemployment problem. However, he agreed that there is lack of infrastructure in the interior parts of these districts and that the State had sought funds from the Centre so that the tribal people living in the interiors could be provided with the basic infrastructure.

Mr. Acharya alluded to the recent statement of the former Minister and Samajwadi Party leader B.T. Lalitha Naik that the police had killed their own personnel in the recent encounter in Horanadu in Chikmagalur district. He said that Ms. Naik’s statement was baseless.

He said the coming by-election to seven Assembly seats on December 27 in the State was a “referendum” on the performance of the BJP government. Mr. Acharya said that the process to recruit 10,000 constables was on.

He said 1,000 constables of Indian Reserve Battalion in Munirabad in Koppal district were undergoing training to tackle all emergencies. Similar training will be imparted to police personnel in Chitradurga and also Belgaum, he said adding that 500 acres of land has been identified in Chitradurga for the purpose.

Mr. Acharya, along with Minister for Primary and Higher Education Viswanath Hegde Kageri and Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat, was on his way to Bangalore from Udupi. The Deccan Airways helicopter that was carrying them developed a technical snag due to shortage of fuel because of which it landed at the Hassan helipad at 1 p. m.

The helicopter flew to Bhuvanahalli, which is 8 km from Hassan, where an international airport is coming up, for refuelling. Later, the Ministers left at 1.30 p. m.

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