‘Cops help YSRCP leader snatch tribals’ crop’

Visakhapatnam: A fact-finding committee comprising representatives of NAPM, Rythu Swaraja Vedika and Dalit Samanvaya Committee visited China Jaggampeta village in Natavaram mandal of Visakhapatnam district and found that the police and revenue officials helped local YSRCP leader Ankamreddy Nookaraju in taking away and destroying the paddy crop grown by the tribal farmers in violation of the High Court orders.

Kiran Kumar of Rytu Swaraja Vedika said Chinna Jaggampeta is a Konda Dora (Scheduled Tribe) village with 40 households of the Konda Dora tribe.

Since this village is not in the list of Scheduled Areas (under Schedule V), the villagers have neither special protection under the Constitution nor the services of the ITDA (Paderu).

On January 6, around 11 am, Natavaram Sub-inspector, tahsildar and Narsipatnam rural Circle Inspector arrived at the village, accompanied by a large number of policemen.

They brought labourers from Gummedigonda village and started harvesting the paddy grown by the tribals.

When the tribals tried to stop them, the police arrested 70 tribal men and women and shifted them to the KD-Peta police station, 50 km away from Golugonda mandal.

Kiran said a civil dispute pertaining to 22 acres of land is pending between the tribal farmers of Chinna Jaggampeta and YSRCP leader from Natavaram mandal Ankamreddy Nookaraju.

The cases are in the court. The tribals also filed an appeal in the joint collector’s court against Ankamreddy Nookaraju and his family, seeking cancellation of the Pattadar passbooks, issued in violation of the Andhra Pradesh Pattadar Passbook Act (ROR).

Also pending is the appeal by tribal women in the High Court against the CrPC 146 orders issued by the present RDO of Narsipatnam, Korada Suryarao.

On December 21, last year RDO Korada Suryarao had issued orders against 20 tribal women and asked the tahsildar to confiscate the land and the crop. None of the 20 women has been given a notice, nor did they receive any copy of the order.

The writ petition filed by the tribal villagers in the High Court, was scheduled for hearing on January 6.

However, on the same day, the paddy was forcefully harvested though the crop was not yet ready for harvesting. At 4 pm on that day, the writ petition was heard and a ‘status quo order was issued by Justice Praveen Kumar Reddy.

This was conveyed to the tahsildar by advocate Chaparala Ravi Kumar at 5 pm on the same day by phone.

In spite of this, the tahsildar continued to have the paddy cut until 1 am and had it moved in tractors. Some of the crop was dumped in between the MEO and MRO office in Natavaram.

Some part was transported to the YSR Congress party leader’s house by tractors in the night. Around midnight, one of the tractors sank into mud and is still lying there.

Three acres of harvested paddy crop was left in the fields. Between 2 am and 3 am the following day, they brought the Adivasi women back from the KD Peta police station and left them in the village.

The mass organisations demanded that the crop lying near the tehsildar office be returned to the tribals, joint collector should inquire into the incident, the orders of the RDO should be cancelled and both the RDO and the tahsildar should be suspended for violating the High Court orders.