Veeramani, Dawaram salute martyrs of 1980 anti-Naxal operation

On August 6, 1980, arrested Naxalite leader Sivalingam had managed to escape from the police custody and had thrown a country bomb at a police vehicle. 

In the impact, as many as four police personnel were killed. Among the deceased policemen were inspector Palanisamy, head constable Adi Kesavalu and constables Yesudas and Murugesan.

Thereafter, the then Chief Minister late MG Ramachandran, who attended inspector Palanisamy’s funeral, walked behind the bier and held a meeting at the Vellore Anna Arangam. 

There he issued orders to eradicate Naxalism in the Tirupatthur belt. The then Vellore range DIG Dawaram was put in charge and the rest is history.

A commemorative pillar was erected in the Tirupatthur town police station to honour the four police personnel who were martyred in the bomb attack. 

Since then, it became a tradition to commemorate the sacrifice of the policemen and wreaths were laid on the pillar every year on August 6 to pay respect to the deceased policemen.

While interacting with the locals, Dawaram said that it was the cooperation of public that led to the success of operation Ajantha, which was launched to curb the issue of Naxalism in the state. The operation was named after the seven-year-old daughter of deceased inspector Palanisamy. Currently, there is no Naxalite movement in the state, Dawaram ended.