The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has alerted that Naxals are planning to set up base in the South by moving in armed cadres along the tri-junction in the Nilgiris Hills. The warning came at a time when the Tamil Nadu police are investigating inputs that some extremist elements are trying to intrude into college campuses in Madurai and Salem in a bid to woo students into the movement, police sources said on Monday.
After Naxal activities were noticed in villages of Kerala and Karnataka abutting Tamil Nadu, the police strengthened surveillance and made enquiries with tribal villages along the borders. “There were inputs that the Naxals were trying to establish a new ‘dalam’ in the South and also rope in youth, particularly students,” a police official said.
A coordination meeting involving the police of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is slated for November 27. “There was not a single instance of Naxal intrusion in our State. However, we have intelligence on some of their activities which will be shared in the meeting,” the official said, adding the Special Task Force (STF) was maintaining a strict vigil in vulnerable forest terrains.
Following the MHA alert, the police in the West Zone stepped up vigil at the tri-junction in the Nilgiris hills, where Tamil Nadu shares borders with Kerala and Karnataka.
The movement of armed Naxal cadre and activities of its frontal organisations were witnessed on more than 20 occasions in Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur in Kerala and Mysore, Kodagu, Udipi, Chikamgalur and Shimoga districts in Karnataka. The alert also added that though the adjoining areas of Tamil Nadu had not witnessed any movement of armed Naxals, activities of its frontal bodies had been noticed in Erode district.
Police sources involved in the surveillance said there had been reported sighting of armed cadre in the Wayanad and Malappuram areas recently. The arrest of Manuel Amalraj (28) of Madurai this June for distributing pamphlets against the State, opposing the setting up of the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, is believed to the basis for the reference of the Union Home Ministry pertaining to activities of frontal organisations in Erode district.
When contacted, Inspector-General of Police (West Zone) S. Davidson Devasirvatham said all bordering check posts were strengthened with armed guards. Additional reinforcements were positioned at the Devala sub-division.
