It was a wild goose chase for the Salem Rural Police inside the deep forests of Shevaroyan Ranges for the whole day on Thursday as a tribal villager had ‘misled' them saying that he saw a gang of seven armed men who had gone into the deep forests, near Kuppanur village, located at the foothills of Shevaroyan Hills on Thursday.
Fear of naxals
The information on the ‘mysterious movement' of an armed gang inside the forest ranges had resurrected the fears of naxals in the minds of police since Salem district is geographically closer to Dharmapuri, which once was a hotbed for the banned movement.
A massive combing operation involving heavily armed officers and also the mobilisation of entire Salem Rural Police was ordered on Thursday.
The teams led by ADSP Eswaran and including DSPs and Inspectors had split into various teams and fanned out inside the forests.
After spending nearly 12 hours under the hot and humid conditions inside the forests, the police had found nothing amiss and withdrew in a huff.
Highly placed police sources said that they received a phone call from Ramar (42) of Kuppanur, which claimed that he saw a gang of seven heavily armed persons who later disappeared into the forests.
This had triggered an alarm in the police circles and resulted in the hunt.
The police on Friday wasted no time and arrested Ramar.
