HYDERABAD: Enraged over the death of a 60-year-old farmer after he was reportedly manhandled by forest department personnel, villagers of Gandi Gopalpur on Tuesday attacked the office of the forest range officer and damaged a government vehicle in Nirmal district. Foresters claimed that the farmer had committed suicide.
Alleging that 60-year-old farmer Gadde Narsaiah died after he was manhandled by forest department personnel after he was taken into custody on Monday, the villagers stormed FRO’s office at Udumpur, ransacked it and damaged a jeep parked in the vicinity. Forest department personnel, including FRO Ramesh, escaped unhurt.
According to the forest officials, the elderly man was taken into custody on Monday after he was found lighting a fire in the forest abutting Gandi Gopalpur, which is in the core area of the Kawal tiger reserve, and was subsequently released. Narsaiah, however, died at a government hospital at Utnoor town in Adilabad district on Tuesday.
“The person was not manhandled by our staff and the forest department is not responsible for his death. The FRO has come to know that the 60-year-old is presumed to have committed suicide. He was brought to the office of FRO Udumpur for inquiry and was released in a healthy condition after requests from the husband of a sarpanch and vice-sarpanch on Monday, after taking personal bonds from them and they took him to his village,” an official release from the forest department said.
Forest officials have informed police about the attack and damage caused.
Alleging that 60-year-old farmer Gadde Narsaiah died after he was manhandled by forest department personnel after he was taken into custody on Monday, the villagers stormed FRO’s office at Udumpur, ransacked it and damaged a jeep parked in the vicinity. Forest department personnel, including FRO Ramesh, escaped unhurt.
According to the forest officials, the elderly man was taken into custody on Monday after he was found lighting a fire in the forest abutting Gandi Gopalpur, which is in the core area of the Kawal tiger reserve, and was subsequently released. Narsaiah, however, died at a government hospital at Utnoor town in Adilabad district on Tuesday.
“The person was not manhandled by our staff and the forest department is not responsible for his death. The FRO has come to know that the 60-year-old is presumed to have committed suicide. He was brought to the office of FRO Udumpur for inquiry and was released in a healthy condition after requests from the husband of a sarpanch and vice-sarpanch on Monday, after taking personal bonds from them and they took him to his village,” an official release from the forest department said.
Forest officials have informed police about the attack and damage caused.
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