Police department in south Indian state Tamil Nadu have 'adopted' 300 border villages to check the influence of naxalite groups.
The 'adoption' process would be completed in phases and the scheme would thwart any attempt by Naxals to gain acces to the territory, after a failed effort to set up an arms training camp at Murugamalai here in 2007, DGP Letika Saran said.
Basic amenities would be provided to 300 villages of the total of 471 villages identified in the first phase.
Villagers were being given milch animals, ration cards and blankets as part of the programme, sources said.
A top police official, requesting anonymity, said the idea took shape after they found some villagers possessing gadgets and watches.
Enquiries revealed they had got it from Naxals, whom they used to help enter and exit jungles, which have myriad pathways.