Mancherial: Tudumdebba demands resignation of FRO for assaulting youngsters

Tribal rights organisation Tudumdebba has demanded the dismissal of Indanpalli Forest Range Officer Laxminarayana over the alleged assault on five tribal youths. The organisation warned of an agitation if action is not taken and sought a comprehensive inquiry into the incident.

Mancherial: Tudumdebba, a tribal rights organisation, demanded that the government sack Indanpalli Forest Range Officer Laxmanarayana for thrashing five tribal youngsters.

In a statement issued on Monday, Tudumdebba state president Godam Ganesh said that Laxminarayana had indiscriminately beat the youngsters for fishing in a stream in Kawal Tiger Reserve. He demanded that the forest minister Konda Surekha remove Laxminarayana from services with immediate effect.

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The state president warned that an agitation would be launched if the forest official was not sacked. He announced that they would lay siege to Indanpalli FRO office if the government did not respond to their demand. He wanted the department to carry out a comprehensive probe into the incident and to take action against the FRO.

On Sunday evening at around 10 pm, tribals from different villages staged a rasta-roko on a road in Indanpalli village protesting against the assault. They reportedly vandalized furniture of the FRO office, faulting the forest officials for detaining the youngsters. They demanded the officials to immediately release the innocent youngsters.

The tribals withdrew their protest after ITDA-Utnoor project officer Manda Makarandu assured them of justice. Heavy police force was deployed in the wake of the gathering of the protesters. Traffic on Jannaram-Utnoor-Nirmal route came to a standstill following the protest.