Hyderabad: Two forest department employees sustained injuries in an attack allegedly by a group of tribals in a village in Telangana, days after the brutal assault of a woman forest officer that triggered an outrage.
Police said the two Forest personnel came under attack at Timmampet village in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district Monday night after they objected to ploughing of forest lands. The injured have been admitted to a local government hospital, a police official said.
The fresh incident came on a day when the Sunday attack on 34-year old Forest Range Officer C Anita by a group of people, allegedly led by ruling TRS MLA Koneru Konappa’s brother Krishna, evoked outrage with the issue echoing in Parliament.
The victim, currently being treated at a private Super Speciality hospital here after being attacked with huge bamboo sticks, has said even animals are not hit this way.
On the latest incident involving the tribals, police said they have registered cases against 12 people. Quoting the complaint from officials, police said trouble broke out Monday night when the two forest personnel, accompanied by other staff, tried to stop some villagers who were trying to plough forest land.
“The villagers attacked the officials when they were trying to seize a tractor used for ploughing. We have registered cases against 12 persons,” an official of Mulkalapally police station told reporters.
A Forest Department official, who was part of the team, said ‘Guttikoyas’ (tribals) came in large numbers and attacked them with sticks.
BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao hit out at the ruling TRS over the attacks on the personnel. “When uniformed officials are being attacked, what are you waiting for. It looks as if his (Chief Minister K Chandrasekar) own MLAs are not listening to him,” Rao said in a statement here.
PTI