In a shocking video, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLA Koneru Konappa's brother, Krishna Rao, can be seen attacking Forest Range Officer (FRO) C. Anitha, who was in the Sirpur village as part of an afforestation drive.
The video shows men who are allegedly from TRS attacking forest officers and police with sticks and rods. Anitha, who attempted to get to safety by climbing a tractor, was struck on the head several times by a mob led by Rao, who is the vice-chairman of the district level panchayat.
#WATCH Telangana: A police team & forest guards were attacked allegedly by Telangana Rashtra Samithi workers in Sirpur Kagaznagar block of Komaram Bheem Asifabad district, during a tree plantation drive. (29-06) pic.twitter.com/FPlME1ygCp
— ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2019
In another video, an injured Anitha, who was taken to the hospital, names Krishna Rao as the assailant, mentioning that he was the brother of Koneru Konappa.
Anitha was in the village as part of the Telangana government's "Telanganaku Haritha Haram" initiative to increase tree cover in the state from 24 per cent to 35 per cent. Reportedly, Anita and the police and forest officials accompanying her had identified reserve forest land upon which to plant saplings. Tensions arose after local villagers claimed the land as their own.
In this video, #Anitha identifies Krishna as the man who hit her and led the mob, says he is the brother of the mla. Her injuries are visible and she is in pain. Will #trs chief #kcr take action. Anitha was there to supervise a plantation drive. @FilterKaapiLive pic.twitter.com/Wj6LLmlrSR
— T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) June 30, 2019
According to Indian Express, Rao was called after the villagers had an argument with the officials. He arrived with his supporters who then started attacking the officials.
A press note released by the Forest Divisional Officer of Kagazhnagar stated that the government had identified 20 hectares of degraded forest land for its afforestation programme.
Rao told the media that the attack on the officers was 'accidental'. ANI reported Rao's response as follows:
"The forest department is terrorising adivasi farmers and confiscating their land forcefully. I was there to resolve the issue and to ensure justice for tribal as forest officials were destroying their crops n the name [of] afforestation. I tried to pacify department authorities but in vain. The attack was accidental action, not intentional."
The Telangana Youth Congress have reshared the video, demanding that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao take action.
This is not the first time Konery Konappa has been associated with violence against a lady officer. In March of 2018, the Deccan Herald reported that he had verbally abused an excise circle inspector who had stopped a truck carrying black jaggery.
