The Hindu : Janu, Geetanandan arrested

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 23, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Janu, Geetanandan arrested

By Our Staff Reporter

SULTHAN BATHERY FEB. 22. The high drama of bloody clashes and gruesome deaths that were being enacted in and around the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary at Muthanga came to an end today with the police arresting its lead players, C. K. Janu and M. Geetanandan.

The two were nabbed by local people who had turned openly hostile after they organised tribal people under the banner of the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha and forcibly occupied the protected Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary on February 19.

Even though Geetanandan and Janu were interrogated by the police throughout the day, the authorities chose not to talk to the Press. But there were indications that the case would now be investigated by the Crime Branch Police.

The large crowd of mediamen gathered at the scene tried in vain till evening to prompt the police authorities to divulge information revealed by the agitation leaders.

The long search for Geetanandan and Janu who were missing after the operation carried out jointly by the police and the Forest Department to evict the tribal agitators from the protected wildlife sanctuary on February 19 ended around 9 a.m. today.

The two were spotted by local people by the roadside, near Nambikolli, 4 km from Sulthan Bathery town on the Bathery-Ootty road. The two had no chance to escape as they were soon surrounded by a hostile crowd. As the news of their arrest spread, a large crowd gathered in front of the Bathery police station. The interrogation by the police continued.

A section of the local people was also hostile to the media, since an impression had gained ground that some journalists were hand in glove with the tribal agitators.

Police also arrested K. K. Surendran, a lecturer in DIET, in connection with the tribal agitation in the sanctuary. Surendran is alleged to have abetted the agitation by conducting study classes.

The agitation leaders will have to face a number of charges. One police constable and a tribal activist had died in the sanctuary when tribal activists, armed with bow and arrows and sickles, fought Government forces deployed to evict them from the sanctuary.

The Forest Department had warned the agitators that their stay in the wild life sanctuary was illegal and punishable under the forest laws.

The Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha has, however, shrugged off the warnings saying the tribals were children of forest and could not be asked to move out of the sanctuary where they had been staying for nearly one-and-a-half months.

The scenes witnessed today were reminiscent of an incident witnessed in Wayanad three-and-a-half decades ago when two Naxalite activists, Philip M. Prasad and K. Ajitha, were nabbed by local people. The two were wanted for attacking police stations. That was when the Naxalite movement was at its peak.

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