K’taka BJP slams Cong govt over facilitating surrender of Maoists
Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP General Secretary and MLA V. Sunil Kumar on Wednesday slammed the Siddaramaiah government for facilitating the surrender of six Maoists, saying this was a move to create urban naxals.
Speaking to the media here, Sunil Kumar, who represents the Maoist activity-prone Karkala Assembly constituency, stated that it was a concerning development. “It is an attempt to make the Maoists, who are operating in forests, urban naxals. For many years the police personnel attached to the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) carried out operations day and night against them and this development will bring down their morale,” Sunil Kumar stressed.
“The ‘Shantigaagi Naagarikara Vedike (Citizens Forum for Peace)’ facilitating the surrender process is an organisation belonging to urban naxals. On top of it the government has also announced packages for the naxals who surrender,” he stated.
“The Maoists have demanded that they should be treated respectfully and with dignity. In Udupi and Chikkamgaluru regions, these Maoists have unleashed violence against farmers and have also carried out violence against the police without any reason. The forum did not come forward to raise concerns when Maoists killed six security personnel in Chhattisgarh. When Maoist Vikram Gowda was encountered in Karnataka, the same organisation members expressed sympathies to him and demanded an investigation into the encounter,” Sunil Kumar stated.
“Adding to this, the forum members facilitate the process of surrender of remaining naxals. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is influenced by the gang of progressive thinkers surrounding him. They will only become urban naxals. The government is offering them packages of Rs 14 lakh, Rs 8 lakh and Rs 4 lakh to surrender,” he stated.
“We have won the hearts of the people in the Maoist-prone region through implementing the development works and projects. The governments should focus on ensuring the development,” he stated.
Six Maoists operating in the coastal and hilly regions of Karnataka came out of the forests in the Chikkamagaluru district on Wednesday and headed to Bengaluru to surrender before CM Siddaramaiah.
The Maoists are likely to reach Bengaluru at 3 p.m. and are scheduled to meet CM Siddaramaiah at his home office, Krishna, in Bengaluru to surrender.
Shantigaagi Naagarikara Vedike is facilitating the surrender process. Maoists Mundagaru Latha from Mundagaru in Sringeri, Vanajakshi from Balehoe in Kalasa, Sundari from Kuntaluru near Mangaluru, Marappa Aroli from Raichur, Vasantha T. from Tamil Nadu, and N. Jeesha from Kerala are surrendering before the CM.