Villagers accused of hiring extremists to thrash tribals

IN SEBADHARA VILLAGE, YADAVS AND TRIBALS ARE FIGHTING FOR CONTROLLING A FOREST LAND

LATEHAR: Around 20 tribal youths from Sebdhara village in Manika block of Latehar district lodged a complaint, accusing 18 villagers of taking the help of a Maoist faction to thrash them, police said on Tuesday.

The youths told police that members of the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP), engaged by the villagers, mostly Yadavs, beat them up on July 28. The JJMP militants accused the youths of damaging forests and asked them not to accept forest land ownership rights (vanadhikar patta).

Latehar superintendent of police Anoop Birtharay said, “Both sides are poor and they are fighting for control over some forest land in the village. We are investigating the matter. Several rounds of talks between both sides have been held in the village and at the police station to ensure peace.”

The 18 villagers were booked under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

In Sebadhara village, Yadavs and tribals are fighting for controlling a forest land. The Yadavs lost cool when tribal families became eligible to get patta rights over the forest land.

“Our rivals invited JJMP militants who beat us and threatened to kill us. Earlier, our rivals were demanding a share of the forest land in our possession. When we refused, they became angry,” said Puran Singh, one of the tribal youths who lodged the case with Manika police station.