MAHBUBNAGAR: Four tribals were admitted to hospital and a few officials of the Forest Department were injured in incidents that transpired among them between Friday night and Saturday morning in the forests of the Amrabad Tiger Reserve, near Mannanur. Following the incidents, tribals from Chenchu Palugu and Gumpanpally villages of Nagarkurnool district blocked the Hyderabad-Srisailam National Highway for nearly three hours. While they alleged manhandling by the department staff, the latter, in its defence, accused them of inciting violence and releasing a video of a mob of tribals damaging a Forest Department vehicle.
Tribal Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod condemned the incident and said the officials must exercise restraint. On the other hand, the Forest Department blamed politicians for siding with the tribals without having complete information of the incident. According to the department, a patrolling party, headed by Forest Section Officer Ramanjaneyulu, along with base camp and fire watchers, went to forest compartment-326 in the Mannanur (West) beat late on Friday.
On spotting a fire, they reached the location and found around 18 tribals — both men and women — camping. The villagers informed the staff that they were there to collect Mahua flowers. The tribals alleged that the patrolling team thrashed some of them, resulting in injuries to some of them. But the Forest Department denied the allegations, claiming that the injured tribals are those who ran into the forest out of fear after they saw the staff, and as a result got injured.
Tribals beat up staff, says Forest Dept
The tribals were later taken to the Durvasula base camp at Mannanur on foot around 1.30 am and were told that they would be released in the morning. Following this, the staff again left for the forest to search for the others, who were left behind. But they returned empty handed at around 7.30 am. By the time the patrolling party returned, the tribals, who were left unguarded, went to Mannanur village and brought back a mob of around 50 people. They thrashed the staff and damaged a vehicle, the department said.
The Field Director of Amrabad Tiger Reserve, B Srinivas, said after this, some villagers staged a protest at his office, while a few politicians met him and requested for stringent action against the “staff involved in beating the villagers”. While Srinivas assured them of a thorough inquiry, he said around 100 people barged into his room and yelled at the staff.