KHAMMAM: In a gruesome incident, a 42-year-old Forest Range Officer (FRO) Chalamala Srinivasa Rao of Chandrugonda mandal was brutally killed by a Gothi Koya man in the Errabodu forest area in the Bendalapadu panchayat limits in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district on Tuesday.
According to forest watcher Ramu, some tribal ryots left their cattle in the plantation near Errabodu for grazing. Upon receiving information about this, FRO Srinivasa Rao and forest beat officer T Rama Rao reached the plantation on their bike and asked the Gothi Koya men to leave the place along with their cattle. But the tribal men refused, claiming that the land was theirs, leading to a heated argument with the officials.
The FRO was busy filming the trespass by the Gothi Koya men, while Ramu and Rama Rao were driving away the cattle. One of the tribal men struck the FRO’s head with a hunting sickle. As the officer collapsed in a heap, Ramu and Rama Rao rushed to his aid and tried to stop the man from further attacking their boss. But he also tried to attack the two officials. The tribal men left the place after the officials begged them to spare the life of the FRO.
The bleeding FRO was first shifted to the Chandragonda Government Hospital in the car sent by the department. Later, he was taken to the area hospital in Kothagudem. On the advice of the doctors there, he was taken to a private hospital in Khammam, where the doctors pronounced him dead.
The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem at the district headquarters hospital. Hospital Resident Medical Officer Dr B Srinivasa Rao said that they noticed deep cuts on FRO’s throat and neck. Forest officials of both Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts paid floral tributes to Srinivasa Rao.
Srinivasa Rao reportedly earned a very good name in the department for his hard work and dedication in protecting forest lands from encroachers. He received the KVS Babu Memorial Gold Medal in 2021 from his department for overall performance. His colleague K Prasad recalled Srinivasa Rao as a dynamic, efficient and affable officer. A native of Eerlapudi village in Khammam district, Srinivasa Rao came to Chandrugonda in 2019 on transfer from Mulugu district. He is survived by wife Bhagyalaxmi, son Yasvanth, who is studying in Class 9, and daughter Kruthika, a Class 6 student at Kothagudem.
This is the second incident of a forest officer dying on duty. A forest beat officer Solomon Raju was killed by teakwood smugglers at Garla in the district. There have been regular clashes between forest officials and Gothi Koyas at Errabodu over podu lands. About 30 families of Gothi Koyas migrated from Chhattishgarh 15 years back and they are engaged in podu cultivation.
According to the police, the two men identified as Madkam Tula and Podium Nanga were taken into custody in connection with the FRO’s murder. The police sources said that it was Tula who fatally attacked the officer. Meanwhile, the State government announced an ex gratia of Rs 50 lakh, a house site and a job for one of the members of the family of the slain FRO. Apart from this, the last drawn pay of the FRO will be paid to his spouse till such date as the deceased officer would have attained superannuation if he were alive.
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