The Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) and the police have launched one of the biggest combing operations ever taken up in the Western Ghats after the death of an ANF jawan Mahadev Mane on Saturday night.
“Thousand policemen from the ANF and the state police from four districts of Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Shimoga are involved in combing operations. Superintendents of police from all four districts, internal security ADGP Bipin Gopalakrishna, state DG and IGP Neelam Achuta Rao, and IGP ANF Alok Kumar are supervising the combing operations. Achuta Rao is camping in Belthangady to review the progress stage by stage,” said Alok Mohan, inspector general of police (Western Range).
“We have also set up nakabandi in several places and possibly blocked all routes of escape for the naxalites.”
Theories galore
Meanwhile, new theories have started floating in the local circles saying that the ‘naxalites’ group identified by the police was, in fact, a group of common hunters and poachers. They had left behind hatchets and spades which hunters usually use for hunting.
“The police claim they had found footwear in the form of slippers. Those who want to survive in the forest for a long time, like the naxalites, would use heavier footwear than that,” said a retired police official in Belthangady.
Hero’s funeral
The mortal remains of slain ANF jawan Mane was on Monday given an official funeral (cremation) at his native village Balegaon in Jath taluk, Sangli district, Maharashtra. His mother, three brothers and their families took custody of the body as it reached there at 11am and the cremation was over by 3pm.
His brother Srishaila, who is serving in the army, said, “My brother was a brave man and initially wanted to join the armed forces, but later joined the police. He was very motivated, tough and highly patriotic. When we used to meet, he always used to talk about national security issues, rather than indulging in family gossip, which made me and the entire village proud of him. After my father Siddaramappa died a few years ago, he was the one who stood by the family.”
4 SLRs jammed
The police have confirmed that not just Mane’s SLR, but at least four SLRs had jammed during the encounter with naxalites on Saturday night at Manjalkad in Savanuru village in Belthangady taluk.
Unlike its Russian counterpart Avtomat Kalashnikova-47 (AK 47), the Indian SLRs need regular maintenance. But the rifles used by the ANF jawans were not maintained to stock condition, which was evident when they jammed during combat. It is customary for the police force, including the ANF, to perform pooja to their arms on Vijayadashami day (October 6) after keeping their weapons in mint condition.
Since these assault rifles work on gas-operated rotating bolt system, they need to be checked for operational functionality more often than AK-47s and Israeli Uri assault machine guns, said police arsenal experts.
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