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Forest officer killed for stopping tribals from felling trees, say police
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced an ex gratia of ₹50 lakh to the family of the deceased FRO
A 47-year-old forest range officer was hacked to death by tribals on Tuesday when he tried to stop them from felling a tree plantation in the Errabodu forest under Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district, police said.
The attack on the deceased, Chandrugonda range forest officer (FRO) Chalamala Srinivas Rao, took place near the Bendalapadu village in the afternoon when he tried to stop a tribal group from cutting down a tree plantation to take up “podu” cultivation, said a police officer privy to details of the case.
Podu is a form of “shifting cultivation” done by tribals, where they fell trees to take up cultivation wherever they go. Migrant tribals have been engaging in this kind of cultivation for the last 15-20 years and have been asking for land rights.
According to the officer, the accused group belong to the Gothi Koya tribe that migrated from Chhattisgarh.
“The forest authorities have been preventing the tribals from cutting down the trees in reserve forests and taking up afforestation wherever such felling of trees has taken place,” said the officer.
On Tuesday, a team of forest officials led by Srinivas Rao went to the Bendalapadu area to confront the tribal group.
“The tribals resisted the forest officials and this led to a confrontation. The irate tribals attacked the officials with sickles and axes. While some forest officials, including Bendapaladu forest section officer Rama Rao, managed to escape, the tribals indiscriminately hacked Srinivas Rao on his head and neck with sharp weapons, before fleeing the spot,” the officer said.
The other team members immediately shifted the FRO to the primary health centre at Chandrugonda and from there, to Khammam government hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced an ex gratia of ₹50 lakh to the family of the deceased FRO, apart from all the benefits that he was entitled to, including full salary and perks, till the age of his superannuation. He also promised to provide a government job to one of the eligible family members on compassionate grounds.
Expressing deep condolences to the family, KCR asked director general of police, M Mahender Reddy, to see that the accused get the stringent punishment as per the law.
State forest minister A Indrakaran Reddy also expressed shock over the killing.
“The government has been making sincere efforts to resolve the podu lands issue of the tribals by giving them title deeds shortly. But it is unfortunate that they killed a forest officer who was doing his duty,” Reddy said.
Stating that the government would not tolerate illegal encroachment of forest lands, the minister warned of stringent action against those indulging in violence.
