‘Naxal issue not handled wisely:

In the wake of criticism from the opposition over its alleged mishandling of Naxalism, the state government on Monday decided to shift the office of IGP, anti-naxal force (ANF), to Karkala from Bangalore.

In the legislative council, the opposition pulled up the government over the way it was dealing with the sensitive issue. Even a BJP MLC, Ganesh Karnik, spoke against the government, saying it was not using any common sense. He pointed out that the chief of ANF is based out of Bangalore, far from the conflict zone. He has to rush to faraway places whenever something happens and come back, he said, adding that this made it impossible for the IGP to get to the root of the problem.

Pointing out that a police constable was shot at by policemen themselves, Karnik said the policemen must be trained in jungle warfare. Opposition leader in the council, Motamma, said an amnesty package for Naxals was not being implemented.
She asked what happened to the various reports submitted in this regard, including
those submitted by Chikkamagalur deputy commissioner and former DGP Subhash Bharani.

Responding to the questions, home minister R Ashoka announced that the office of the ANF’s IGP would be shifted to Karkala from Bangalore. Also, he said the number of Naxals in the state was coming down. He said there are 15-20 Naxals in Karnataka and a survey had been taken up to identify their antecedents. The home minister added that the state has a unit of 500 police constables and 80 commandos to combat Naxals. He informed that another team of commandos was undergoing training.

Further, the minister said the government would give `2 lakh as compensation to Naxals who surrender. Those who surrender with weapons like AK-47 would get additional money.