TV9 News : Doubts Emerge Over ANF Constable Killed in Encounter With 'Naxalites' In DK

TV9 News : Doubts Emerge Over Constable Killed in Encounter With 'Naxalites'....!


A 40-year-old constable was killed in an encounter with "naxalites" late on Saturday night near Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada district. This is the first encounter between "naxalites" and the police in the district.

The constable, Mahadeva S. Mane, was part of a 14-member team that was sent to the area following a tip-off about the movement of "naxalites" there.

Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) Alok Mohan said the incident occurred around midnight near Manjala area of Navur village. The place is about 8 km from Savanal village and 4.5 km inside the forest.

A constable said he was with Mane when they spotted the movement of "naxalites" around 11.30 p.m. At least one of them wore a headgear fitted with a torch. He was the first to fire at them but soon saw Mane collapse with a bullet wound. The gunbattle lasted 10 minutes, he said.

The Anti-Naxalite Force (ANF) members said the "naxalites" returned to the same place later, shouted slogans, and collected their belongings, apparently to not leave evidence of their activities. Mane's body was taken to Belthangady government hospital for post-mortem and later sent to his native village after a parade in his honour.

While many of them could not be seen because it was dark, Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Labhu Ram told presspersons that they sighted top "naxalite" Vikram Gowda. The other naxalites named in the FIR registered at Belthangady police station are Sundari and Vijayakirthi. They have been charged with offences that included murder and attempt to murder.

The IGP told presspersons that the police had been proactively engaging the naxalites. The people of the village said they had never seen police operations against "naxalites" in the region before. Presspersons were not allowed near the encounter spot.
'Outside elements'

Bangalore Staff Reporter writes:

Meanwhile, addressing presspersons in Bangalore, Home Minister R. Ashok said there was information of Maoists from Tamil Nadu infiltrating the coastal districts of Karnataka.

He said the role of "outside elements" in the ambush was being investigated, adding that the Maoist threat in the State had been neutralised to a great extent.

The Minister said only 15 active Maoists had been identified in the State and they could not have carried out the attack on their own.

The Government had information that they had got support from cadres in Tamil Nadu.

Condoling the death of Mane, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said he had instructed the Director-General and Inspector-General of Police N. Achuta Rao to camp in Dakshina Kannada and oversee a three-day combing operation in the forests of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Chikmagalur.

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News & Politics

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• Anti-Naxalite Force
• Videos For ANF
• Constable Killed in Encounter
• Naxals in Karnataka
• ANF constable killed
• News for Naxals Encounter
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• Beltangady
• Policeman Killed
• Doubts still persist