ADILABAD: Timber smugglers allegedly instigated residents and farmers of Compartments 71 and 72 of Keshavapatnam village in Echoda mandal to attack forest officials during a plantation drive on Sunday.
The drive aimed to restore over 1,600 acres of forest degraded by smuggling of high-value multani teak and to curb illegal activity near the sensitive Pembi forest.
A group of women obstructed the officials, claiming the land was podu (shifting cultivation) land. When asked for pattas, they failed to produce any.
An argument ensued, and a mob, allegedly provoked by known smugglers Sk Jumma, Farid, Altaf, Rashid, Hassan and others attacked police personnel deployed for security. They used rods and pelted stones, injuring five police personnel and damaging a vehicle.
The injured persons were taken to Echoda PHC; three were later shifted to RIMS, Adilabad. RIMS director Dr Rathod Jai Singh said all were stable.
District Forest Officer Prashant Bajirao Patil said the smugglers misled villagers. “There is no podu issue here. The attack was clearly orchestrated,” he said.
He noted a similar incident in January when forest teams were attacked during raids in the same village. Police are identifying suspects to file cases for assault and damage to property.
Officials said tribal families have begun vacating the area, unable to resist pressure from the entrenched timber mafia, whose members are believed to be descendants of pre-Partition settlers from present-day Pakistan, and experts in teak smuggling.
Forest officer vows action
Khammam: In a bid to protect forest land, the district forest department is taking stringent measures. District Forest Officer (DFO) Siddharth Vikram Singh stated on Saturday that encroachments on forest land and attacks on forest officials will not be tolerated, and strict legal action will be taken as per the law. He said that in the Karepalli forest range of Khammam forest division, the department had planted trees over more than 50 hectares in the Utkuru North Beet, Cheemalapadu reserve forest, during 2020–21 at a cost of `59.54 lakh. However, locals from Errabodu and Manikyaram villages destroyed 33,848 trees in the area, causing an estimated loss of `45.3 lakh to the department. Between 2022 and 2025, eight cases under PFO Act were registered against over 40 accused persons. Noting the importance of forests, the DFO appealed to the public to refrain from encroachment and violence against forest staff. He said that protecting forests is a shared responsibility that benefits us all.