The Hindu

Udupi, Jun 23: The Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) and the Hebri Police in a joint operation have arrested a teenager at Hebri Bus Station on Wednesday on the suspicion that he was supplying food to naxalites operating in forest areas adjoining Hebri. The accused is a resident of Mundani near Kabbinale village in Karkala taluk of Udupi district.

H N Sathyanarayana Rao, Inspector General of Police (Western Range) said ANF and the Hebri police had been keeping a close watch on those suspected to be sympathetic to the naxal cause.

Police recovered meat and other food items from the accused when he was picked up from the bus station. Stating that the accused had been booked under Section 109 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Rao said the police had decided to take a lenient view of the incident in view of the accused man's age. "We do not want to persecute him or label him a criminal," he said.

A Subramanyeshwara Rao, Superintendent of Police, Udupi, said the accused was suspected of being attracted to the naxal ideology. "We have decided to focus on his rehabilitation along with other members of his family."

Rao said the accused was produced before the Karkala tahshildar, who was also the taluk executive magistrate and released on a self-bail.

Sathyanarayana Rao commended the ANF and the Hebri Police for their alertness in disrupting the supply chain to the naxalites. The Hebri Police have registered a case.