A forest range officer who was attacked by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) workers in Telangana has been booked under the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The officer, C Anitha, was accused of abusing villagers using casteist remarks.
Fourteen other forest department officials have also been booked. The villagers allege that Anitha and others used casteist slurs against them during a tree plantation drive last month.
Earlier, Koneru Krishna, the brother of TRS MLA Koneru Konappa, was arrested after leading the attack on Anitha during the plantation drive. Responding to the allegations, Krishna said that the forest department was terrorising aboriginal 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 crops in the name afforestation," said Krishna.
The attack was condemned by party's working president KT Rama Rao (KTR), who slammed the party workers for their "atrocious behaviour". "I strongly condemn the atrocious behaviour of Koneru Krishna who attacked a forest officer who was doing her job. He has been arrested and a case booked already; no one is above law of the land," KTR wrote on Twitter.
Anitha was provided police protection after she claimed a threat to her life and sought reassurance from the government.
