MALKANGIRI: After two days of violence, the MV-26 area of Malkangiri district moved towards peace with successful talks between the tribals and the Bengali community.
After much persuasion by the district administration, both communities agreed to come to the table on Tuesday. A peace committee meeting was convened involving the revenue divisional commissioner, collector, DIG, SP, Malkangiri MLA Narasingha Madkami and representatives of both the communities.
“The talks were successful. Both the groups resolved to maintain peace and not escalate the matter any further,” collector Somesh Upadhyay told TNIE.
Meanwhile, under the cover of curfew and internet shutdown, the violence-hit MV-26 remained calm throughout the day. With heavy security arrangements, no further violence was reported from the region. However, curfew is still in force and internet services will remain suspended till Wednesday noon as a precautionary measure, Upadhyay said.
The unrest began on Sunday when thousands from nearby tribal areas entered MV-26 and set houses on fire and destroyed property of the Bengali settlers, following the alleged murder of Lake Podami of Rakhelguda village. The headless body of Podami was recovered from the Potteru river fuelling anger among the tribals against Bengalis as she was involved in a land dispute with a member of the latter community. While police arrested the accused Subharanjan Mondal in connection with Podami’s death, the unrelenting tribals launched a fierce attack on the MV-26, forcing most of the residents to flee.
Upadhyay said on the basis of preliminary reports, of the 188 houses in the MV-26 village, 163 have been damaged. Assessment teams are preparing a detailed damage report after which relief will be provided to the affected as per the guidelines of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), he said.
Police and security forces continued to guard the area on Tuesday to prevent any further flare-up of the situation. DGP YB Khurania who visited the area on Monday night, reviewed the arrangements and efforts to restored normalcy in the region.
The tribal villagers who had refused to accept the headless body of Podami since it was recovered on Thursday, however, relented to the persuasion of the district administration on the day and allowed postmortem. As the body’s head is yet to be traced, the family created a clay head replica as per their customs and conducted final rites by burying the body near Rakhelguda.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia for the kin of the deceased while the district administration released `30,000 for funeral expenses.
The tribals, though, submitted a memorandum to the collector demanding dissolution of MV-26. Handing over a seven-point charter of demands, tribal leader Bandhu Muduli also sought removal of all “unauthorised” Bengali settlers from the district. He also demanded `30 lakh compensation for the victim Podami’s family, transfer of the land in her possession to her kin and capital punishment for the accused.