AP encroachment case: 12 tribals get bail

ADILABAD: The 12 tribal women from Koipochiguda, who were sent to remand recently on encroachment charges, were granted bail on Wednesday. They were later released from the Adilabad District Prison. After being released, the women — M Pochava, M Sunitha, D Shamalla and others — claimed a forest ranger kicked them and used foul language against them. They demanded that the government suspend him. They said they have been cultivating on forest lands for years, but forest officials obstructed them from clearing lands and filed cases for doing so in the last six months.

Sunitha said she has a five-year-old differently-abled child, and faced a lot of problems during the week she was in jail as she wasn’t able to work as a daily labourer and lost out on wages, resulting in the lack of money for food.While the locals need land for cultivation, the government was distributing lands to Scheduled Castes (SC) families, they added.

Leaders from the Congress and Adivasi organisations celebrated their release after a week, in front of the prison and distributed clothes to them. AICC secretary G Sujatha, Mancherial district Congress president K Surekha and other leaders were also present at the jail. They said the cases were illegal and demanded that the government issue pattas so that the tribal residents can carry out cultivation.

State president of the Adivasi Sena, Kova Daulath Rao, said tribals have been cultivating in forest lands for ages. “Before the Assembly elections, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao assured to provide pattas, but are putting people behind bars over the same after coming to power,” he said.  A padayatra from Koipochiguda to the ITDA, Utnoor office, has been scheduled from Friday and a massive protest programme will be held on June 13, he added.