MULUGU: A forest section officer, Vinod Kumar, and two beat officers, Sharath Chandra and Sumar, suffered grievous injuries when they were attacked late on Thursday by encroachers of forest land at Damara Vayi in the district.
The officials seized an earth mover being used in levelling a piece of land in the reserve forest by one Ganta Suraj Reddy and his men. Soon, Suraj Reddy’s brother and friends stopped the vehicle in which the officials were travelling and attacked them.
Vinod Kumar’s fingers were chopped by the attackers while his colleagues Sharat Chandra and Suman suffered injuries. The attackers also damaged the vehicle of the officials and seized the earth mover.
DFO Rahul Jadhav Yadav and forest staff rushed to the spot and shifted the injured persons to a private hospital in Warangal for treatment. They lodged a complaint with the Tadvai police.
Rahul Jadhav Yadav appealed to the state government to treat the incident as an attempt to murder on forest officials and take stringent action against the culprits.
According to Tadvai SI N Srikanth Reddy, based on the forest department authorities’ complaint, a case was registered against Suraj Reddy, his brother Chintu and friend Sai under Section 109 BNS.
Meanwhile, Forest Minister Konda Surekha directed the private hospital to provide best possible treatment to the injured forest officials. She called on the injured officials at the hospital. Describing violation of forest laws and assaulting officials as a serious crime, the minister said that the state government will take stringent action against the culprits.