Forest staff attacked with machete during plantation drive in Kolar, three injured

Kolar: Three forest department personnel sustained serious injuries after they were allegedly attacked with a machete by a man during a plantation drive at Mallampalli village in Srinivaspur taluk of Kolar district on Wednesday , escalating the long-standing conflict between farmers and the forest department over alleged encroachment.

The injured staff members have been identified as Somashekar, Zamir and Naveen. They were shifted to the government hospital in Srinivaspur for treatment. Police have taken the alleged attacker, identified as Chalapathi, into custody.

According to sources, the incident occurred when forest officials attempted to plant saplings on 296 acres of land belonging to the department in Survey No. 35 at Mallampalli. Chalapathi allegedly objected to the plantation work and threatened the officials with a machete. When the staff attempted to take the weapon away, he allegedly attacked them, injuring the three personnel.

The confrontation comes amid continuing disputes between farmers and forest officials in Kolar district over the removal of alleged encroachments on forest land. Over the past week, the department has undertaken plantation activities and encroachment clearance drives in Upparapalli, Mallampalli and A.M. Palli villages in Nelavanki hobli.

Officials have reportedly been carrying out the operations with police assistance in areas where residents have resisted the work.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Dalit organisations and farmers' groups visited the area and accused the forest department of attempting to evict cultivators who had been farming the land for several years.

They demanded that eviction drives be suspended until the government issues appropriate directions and a joint survey establishes the status of the disputed land.

The incident has renewed calls for a resolution to the prolonged dispute between forest officials and farmers in the district.

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Coovercolly Indresh

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