Madhya Pradesh: Kamal Nath orders inquiry into pellet gun firing on Adivasis in Burhanpur
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Saturday announced that he has ordered an investigation after forest officials allegedly used pellet guns against Adivasis in Burhanpur district. The chief minister said the guilty will not be spared.
Four Adivasis were injured in the incident on July 9. The forest officials alleged that the Adivasis pelted stones at them.
On May 1, the Madhya Pradesh government began re-examining the cases of several Adivasis whose land claims had been rejected, and notified all district collectors not to carry out any evictions till those cases had been examined again. Despite that, on the morning of July 9, around 50 forest department officials and police went to Siwal village in Nepanagar block with excavators and began razing local farms.
Senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia raised the matter on Friday, after party MLA Hiralal Alawa wrote to Nath, seeking action against the officials. “The development of tribals and protection of their rights are priority of the Congress government under Kamal Nath’s leadership,”
“Progress and welfare of the tribal population is the priority of the MP Government,”
Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh told PTI that the forest officials and Adivasis have filed complaints against each other, with the filing of cross-first information reports. “Inquiry will be conducted by the Additional District Magistrate,” he said.
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