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Adivasi-Lambada tussle puts Utnoor on the boil
Tension built up in Utnoor in Adilabad district on Friday when police lobbed teargas shells and resorted to lathi-charge to quell rioting mob of Adivasis who were on the rampage, suspecting that Lambadas were responsible for hanging a string of chappals around the neck of the statue of Komarambhim in Behtalguda on Thursday.
Hyderabad: Tension built up in Utnoor in Adilabad district on Friday when police lobbed teargas shells and resorted to lathi-charge to quell rioting mob of Adivasis who were on the rampage, suspecting that Lambadas were responsible for hanging a string of chappals around the neck of the statue of Komarambhim in Behtalguda on Thursday.
Adivasi youths in groups, wielding sticks and other weapons, went on rampage in Utnoor, setting fire to wine shops and other establishments owned by Lambadas and allegedly beating up a few Lambada youths.
The trouble began when news spread that Lambadas had resorted to an act of sacrilege to the statue of their leader. Adivasis, who were upset over the incident, were on their way to the statue to purify it when the Lambadas had stopped them and allegedly attacked them in which one youth was critically injured.
The news of attack on Adivasis spread like wildfire making the Adivasis come out of village and head to Utnoor. On reaching the town, they went on the rampage, torching a wine shop, a provisions store, a motor bike, attacked four to five shops and then attacked a hospital owned by former MP Ramesh Rathod.
As the situation was spinning out of control, the police lobbed teargas shells and managed to drive away the rioters. “The situation is under control now. Only one youth was injured in the attack on the Adivasis by Lambadas. Additional forces have been mobilised from Nirmal, Macherial and other places,” one police officer told The Hans India.
The police said that both Lambadas and Gonds (Adivasis) were at loggerheads for quite some time now following the movement that Lamabdas should be removed from the list of STs. On Nov 20, two Advisasi youths had been beaten up by the Lamabdas after tempers ran high between the two groups.
Bhujanga Rao, a leader of Adivasis, said: “Adivasi youths were only going to the statue of Komarambheem to purify it after some Lambadas had hung a string of chappals. But the Lambadas stopped our youth and attacked them. Later Adivasis retaliated. Ours was only a reaction,” he said.
But Lambadas say that they do not understand why Adivasis were after them. “In the past we had no differences. Lambadas and Gonds lived like brothers. Now suddenly there is dissension. They are attacking us forcing us to retaliate which is not good either for Lambadas or for the state,” a Lamabda leader Bellaya Nayak said. Adivasis, taking serious exception to Lambadas attacking them in Utnoor called for a bandh of the entire erstwhile Adilabad district on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the IPC to restore order in the troubled areas of Utnoor and a few other villages.
Meanwhile, a group of Lambadas staged a protest at the office of the Director General of Police in Hyderabad demanding protection. The police immediately swung into action and arrested them.
