Hyderabad: A circle inspector was caught in between two warring groups in the Khammam reserve forest area near Chandrapalem village in Sattupalem Mandal on Sunday, March 31.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media platforms.
According to reports, the two groups of tribals – one from Chandrayapalem and many others from Buggapadu Nagupalli, Varre colony, and Nallivarigudem areas – started fighting over nine hectares of podu land with each claiming it to be theirs.
On information, police reached the spot to control the situation. While trying to navigate the argument from both sides, a circle inspector allegedly grabbed the collar of a tribal young man.
Kumar, who was in plain clothes, instantly became the rage of the tribals who launched a no-holding-back attack on him. He received fist blows, pushed, pulled and dragged by the collar.
Three other police officials got injured while trying to rescue Kumar. ACP A Raghu, FDO Manjula and FRO Snehalatha visited the spot and took stock of the situation.
21 tribals booked
The police, on Monday, April 1, have booked around 21 tribal members for assaulting a government officer and engaging in violence. Of the 21 booked, three people have been taken into custody.
Police and forest reserve officials often become the target of villagers and tribal groups. Some cases have turned out to be fatal.
In November 2022, a forest officer named Chalamala Srinivas Rao was fatally attacked and killed using sticks and knives by tribals. The then CM K Chandrashekar Rao had announced Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the Rao’s family.
