New Delhi, Sept. 4: Picturesque Uttaranchal, which has so far drawn only tourists, is getting attention from Naxalites, too.

Security agencies have detected an attempt to infiltrate and set up base in the hill state some 50 km from tourist hotspots in Nainital. Sources said they fear simultaneous efforts could be afoot elsewhere in the state.

Nearly 149 districts in the country are affected by the Naxalite menace in varying degrees. In 55 districts, rebels have built concrete links with Nepalese Maoists to carve out a “Compact Revolutionary Zone” from Nepal through Bihar to Andhra Pradesh.

That the Nepal border is just 80 km from Nainital has added to the administration’s worry, though investigations by the state police have not indicated any direct link with Nepalese Maoists.

But security agencies say arrests and seizures made last month suggest that the state is on the radar of the Naxalites who started building the ground for launching an Uttaranchal chapter of the Maoist Communist Centre of India a year ago.

It started with a stranger, Manish, who floated an organisation in Hanspur Khatta village near the dense forests of Nainital district. Manish began by volunteering to educate the children but was soon spending considerable time to make the poor aware of their rights.

The ploy worked. By April this year, a group of 10 MCCI activists, including Manish, organised its first meeting in the forests where local residents were trained to make weapons. The training reportedly continued over the next few months till a fortnight ago when the police heard about a dozen-strong group moving around in the area, armed with country-made weapons.

Kumaon range police launched a combing operation to track down the MCCI cadre. They have not been able to catch them, but did manage to book five villagers known to have been closely associated with the MCCI cadre for conspiring to wage war against the state.

Interrogation of the villagers revealed the location of a six-foot-deep pit where the Naxalites had buried rations, utensils big enough to prepare food for 15-20 people, and raw material for firearms.

Inspector-general of police, Kumaon range, Vijay Raghav Pant said 13 uniforms and an equal number of pairs of shoes were found in the pit along with a banner and literature that referred to the MCCI’s armed wing, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army. The police said the core group, which has since been on the run, was being led by a person from south India.

Officials said this was the first time that Naxalites were trying to make inroads into the peaceful state. The state police have been told not to take any chances. They have been asked to carry out a survey to identify other poverty-stricken villages that could offer a fertile ground for Naxalite ideology.