Forest officer points gun at tribals after wages demand

A Range Forest Officer (RFO) from Wada on Wednesday allegedly whipped out his licenced revolver to threaten tribals, who had gone to meet him over the delay in issuance of wages since December 2018. While the tribals said the RFO was threatening them, the officer concerned said he had taken out his weapon in self-defence as the tribals were about to assault him.

The Wada police have called both the parties for questioning and at the time of going to press, no first information report (FIR) had been registered. The forest department had employed tribals at Abitghar in Wada to dig pits to plant saplings as part of an afforestation drive in December 2018. However, the tribals had not been paid for the work. On Wednesday, tribals affiliated to the Shramjeevi Sanghatana, a tribals welfare organisation, marched to the office of the forest department to demand their outstanding wages. Some members of the tribal community said that Dilip Tonde, RFO, Wada, threatened them with his revolver.

Bhagyashri Jadhav, the woman at whom Tonde allegedly pointed the revolver, said, “The officer tried to stop women from entering his office and pulled out a revolver so as to create fear in us.” Defending his action, Tonde said, “I had to whip out my revolver in self-defence, or else the tribal women could have brutally assaulted me.”

First Published: Apr 26, 2019 03:13 IST