Why in news? With zero reports of Naxal activities in Karnataka in the last seven years, the state government is contemplating ‘rationalising’ the strength of the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF).

Highlights

• Government is planning to cut down staff members by half and six camps.
• Some of the districts, including Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru, have already dissolved the ANF and absorbed the deputed staff into their parent units.

What are the intiatives taken by ANF ?

• Police department is contemplating concentrating on ‘high-risk’ areas by deploying more staff, while removing camps from locations with low chances of recurrence of Naxal activities.

Ex: The team at Agumbe camp, identified as a low-risk area, can be shifted to a border place in Kodagu where several attempts of Naxal penetrations have been recorded.

• No active Naxals within Karnataka and the Bengaluru police are keeping a track of “underground Naxals”.
• ANF are currently performing ‘area domination’ exercises and gathering intelligence with regard to satellite call used by Naxals.

About Anti-Naxal Force

• ANF was formed in 2005 to counter the armed rebel groups.
• It’s headquartered at Karkala in Udupi district, currently has 15 camps across Malnad and the Western Ghats, with a total of 500 personnel
• While the ANF is a unit formed by deputing police personnel from across the state, some districts also have anti-Naxal squads constituting staff from the district police force.

History of Naxal movement in Karnataka

• During the peak of the Naxal movement (1990 to 2012) in the state, there were active armed Naxals who had taken shelter in the thick forests of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Shivamogga and in the arid regions of Bidar, Raichur, Ballari and Tumakuru.