Southern States
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Karnataka
High alert sounded in Karnataka border
By T. V. Sivanandan
GULBARGA, DEC. 2. The State Government has sounded a general alert in the districts bordering Andhra Pradesh in view of violence stepped up by the members of the banned Peoples War Group (PWG) in the last couple of days.
The Home Minister, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge, told The Hindu that the district administration and the police authorities of Gulbarga, Bidar, Bellary, Raichur, Tumkur, and Kolar have been asked to be on high alert against possible attacks on police stations and installations in border villages and towns by the PWG members.
Mr. Kharge said although he did not foresee any threat from the PWG or from any other group, no chances were being taken against any possible spillover of the violence from Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka.
To a question, Mr. Kharge said the State Government was not aware of any threat from the PWG naxalites. There were no reports of inter-State movement of naxalites from Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka for taking shelter. However, police have been kept on high alert and a tight vigil was being maintained on the borders of the State and in villages where the naxalites have some hold.
The Government would convene a meeting of deputy commissioners, chief executive officers of zilla panchayats and superintendents of police in Bangalore to discuss the situation. Senior officials of the Government including the Chief Secretary and the secretaries of major departments would attend the meeting.
Mr. Kharge said the activities of the PWG or its frontal organisations and other such organisations in the State had been contained and they were losing their foothold thanks to the multi-pronged strategy adopted by the Government to deal with the situation not only as a law and order problem but also as a social problem.
Mr. Kharge said that as a follow-up to the meeting of senior officials of the State Government held some time back in Bangalore, several development activities had been taken up in the areas which had come under the influence of the naxalites.
The Government's decision to provide basic amenities and improve the economic condition of the poor had paid rich dividends. ``People were now coming out of the grips of these extremist organisations and joining the mainstream.''
He said he was of the firm opinion that the people would not be drawn towards naxalites and other extremist organisations if the Government provided them basic facilities.
One of the reasons for naxalites not gaining a foothold in the backward areas of the State, Mr. Kharge said, was the implementation of the Land Reforms Act by the Devaraj Urs Government. Several measures had been initiated to strengthen the police stations in border areas and about Rs. 20 lakh was spent on each police station in border areas to beef up security.
These included constructing watch-towers and fortifying the police stations. Outdated weapons had been replaced with modern ones and modern communication equipment had also been provided to the police.
He said he was confident that the people of the State would not cooperate with the PWG or any other extremist organisation in view of the people-friendly programmes taken up by successive governments in the State.
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