Maoists'weapons will be brought following due process: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said authorities are in the know about the place where the weapons of six Moaists, who have surrendered, are kept, and that they will be brought following due process. He also defended the Moaists surrendering before the government, which has come under criticism from the opposition BJP, stating that the intention of the administration is to end Naxalism and the people involved in such activities should come to the mainstream giving up arms.Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said that the government’s intention is that there should be no Naxalism, and it wants any agitation to be peaceful.
“There should be no armed agitation. Babasaheb Ambedkar too said the same thing that constitutional methods should be used. There should be no usage of unconstitutional methods. No one should take law into their hands in the name of protest or agitation,” he added. Earlier in the day, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that six surrendered Maoists have not handed over their weapons, and the police are working to locate and recover them from the forest where they are believed to have been disposed off.Noting that one Maoist, expelled from the surrendered group, is still at large and efforts are underway to trace him, the minister said there is no one else involved in Naxal activities in the state.
Karnataka BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra on Friday said that the surrender of six Maoists before Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his home office Krishna on Thursday was a “sheer act of drama”. Speaking to media in Bengaluru, while answering questions regarding the development, Vijayendra stated, that the BJP won’t oppose the surrender of Naxals. But what was the necessity for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to invite all Naxals to his home office?  “Where are the weapons? Even today the police are not able to confiscate the surrendered Naxals' weapons. I really do not understand what is happening. I feel it is only a sheer drama what happened regarding the surrender of Naxalites,” Vijayendra maintained.

(State Correspondent)