Koraput/Malkangiri/Nabarangpur: Arrest of former MP and Congress leader Pradip Majhi along with 18 other party workers on the charge of vandalising the Raighar forest range office has left the party workers fuming.
Taking serious note of the issue, Congress has called a 12-hour bandh in Nabarangpur and Koraput June 28.
Meanwhile, nine of the arrested persons including Majhi launched a hunger strike in Umerkote sub-jail while Nabarangpur district unit president of Congress Narayan Patra called a press meet here Sunday and accused the police of illegally arresting the 19 persons.
He said tempers ran high Saturday when forest officials and the ranger misbehaved with the Congress workers while the latter were carrying out a peaceful procession.
The UPA government had made a legislation in 2006 to provide land pattas for 10 acres of forest land to poor tribals. “But the forest rangers are collecting lakhs of rupees from people in the name of providing them land pattas. The BJD government is exploiting people instead of providing land to the poor,” Patra alleged.
A violent clash had erupted between Bangladeshi refugees and tribals over forest land in 2001 in the district. Two persons were killed in the incident. In view of the current situation, there is every possibility of recurrence of clash here, Patra said.
Workers of Koraput unit of Congress also called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh over the issue June 28. Laxmipur MLA Kailash Luisika alleged the range officer had been collecting lakhs of rupees from people on the promise of giving them forest land pattas for the last two years.
Congress workers of Malkangiri also condemned the arrest of Majhi and party workers.
Gobinda Patra, president of the district unit of Congress, held a meeting over the issue Sunday at the district headquarters. He alleged Raighar forest ranger Kumar Khara has collected over Rs 3 crore from innocent tribals to provide them pattas of forest land.
Alleging that the forest ranger was collecting money on tacit instruction from an MLA, he demanded dismissal of the forest ranger. PNN