Locals of Rambha on Monday submitted a memorandum to Ganjam Collector Kishen Kumar protesting arrests of ‘innocent’ villagers by police and forest officials on poaching charges.
They alleged that police and forest officials have been torturing them by accusing them of killing elephants for tusks even as poachers are having a field day in the area. Sources said two persons were arrested by forest officials for their alleged involvement in killing of a tusker near Sipakuda under Rambha police limits last week. On Saturday, forest officials detained two more villagers accusing them of poaching. Protesting this, locals decided to take the matter to the Collector.