Villagers hold forest officials hostage

ELURU: Tension prevailed at Sriparru village in Eluru Rural mandal on Friday, after villagers hold forest officials hostage before releasing them after the interference of village heads. Village head Saidu Govardhan and others started lifting water from the fish ponds with two motors in the morning. On a tip-off, forest officials led by Eluru forest ranger Sravan Kumar reached Sriparru village and directly went to the fish pond. The officials asked the villagers to stop lifting of water as the area comes under 5th contour and Kolleru Bird Sanctuary.

Following this warning, a group of irate women surrounded the forest staff and detained them. They questioned the forest officials stating that some big people dug up hundreds of acres of pond in bird sanctuary area in Kolleru. “Will you permit only those who have given lakhs of rupees as bribe to dig up the pond,” they questioned. They also raised slogans against the officials asking them to ‘go back’. 

On learning about the incident, the police reached the village and tried to convince the villagers to release the forest officials. However, as the villagers refused to release the officials, Rural CI G Nageswar Nayak and forest ranger Sravan Kumar held discussions with village head Saidu Govardhan and other agitating villagers. They told the villagers that soon a meeting would be conducted in the presence of divisional forest officer (DFO) to resolve their problems.

Even then, the agitators refused to budge. They stated that they want to fill the drinking water tank for their cattle. It was only after the interference of village elders, that the agitators withdrew their protest.G Venkateswara Rao, Jayamangala Subbaraju, Saidu Bhagyalakshmi, G Srihari, M Rambabu and G Venkatalakshmi led the villagers.

Tense situation
A group of irate women tell the forest officials that some big people dug up hundreds of acres of pond in bird sanctuary area in Kolleru
They raise slogans against the officials asking them to ‘go back’
Police and forest officials tell the villagers that soon a meeting will be conducted in the presence of DFO to resolve their problems