Chamarajanagar district police, Anti-Naxal squad initiate combing operation in MM Hills

MYSURU: Along with Chamarajanagar district police, personnel of the Anti-Naxal Squad on Saturday commenced combing operations near Gopinatham, which lies on the Tamil Nadu border along the Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills. The operation has been launched after the internal security department traced satellite phone signals inside the forests on Thursday, and immediately alerted Chamarajanagar superintendent of police (SP) Anand Kumar.
Cops subsequently descended on the area and have since been keeping a close watch on anyone, the movements of whom appear suspicious. “We have been able to confirm the use of satellite phones by individuals, the identity of whom yet remains to be ascertained,” SP Kumar told TOI.
He added that, along with members of the Anti-Naxal squad, two teams had been constituted to comb the area between Hogenakal and Gopinatham, which is where signals from the phones had been traced to.
“We are not taking any chances. Hogenakal Falls is a very popular tourist destination, with visitors even from foreign nations going there. It is possible that a foreign tourist used a satellite phone. We are also probing the possibility of the phone being in the hands of vested interests looking to foment disturbance in the region,” Chamarajanagar district’s top cop said.