Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Monday said there was not much naxal activity in the State.
Speaking to presspersons after holding a review meeting on the issues of naxalite activities and coastal security at the Coastal Security Police Head Office at Malpe harbour here, Mr. Reddy said last year 14 naxalites had surrendered. “Now there are seven or eight of them. They do not enjoy public support. Their sphere of activity has shifted towards the Kerala side,” he said.
The State has 300 km of coastline. There does not appear to be any problem with coastal security. Other than staff, the other development-related issues of CSP are being taken care of by the Union government. “Though there is staff shortage in the CSP, measures will be taken to fill the vacancies,” he said.
To a query, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party was misleading people by saying that 23 Hindutva activists have been murdered in the State in the past four and a half years. The fact is only 10 such activists have been murdered, the Minister said.
“As many as 11 Hindutva or Sangh Parivar activists were killed by Hindus over past enmity, property disputes or family feuds, while three Sangh Parivar activists had unnatural deaths during the period. But the BJP deliberately includes them in its list of murdered Hindutva activists,” he said, releasing the lists of deaths.
He said that during the same period, 11 Muslim activists were killed by activists of Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Sri Ram Sene, or the Hindu Jagrana Vedike. “The BJP never talks about the murder of Muslim activists,” Mr. Reddy said.
With CBI
He also said the BJP was taking the parents of Paresh Mesta, the youth murdered in Honnavar three months ago, in its ‘Jana Suraksha Yatra’ and claiming that no investigation was being done in the case. “But we have handed over the Mesta case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. It is for the CBI to conduct the probe, not the State police,” he said.
On the cow slaughter issue raised by the BJP, he said he was opposed to slaughter of all animals. “Let the Centre stop slaughter of all animals including cows. The BJP government at the Centre should also stop export of beef.”
