Forest team attacked during encroachment removal drive:Sticks used, vehicles vandalised in Sheopur; staff flee to survive, forest ranger injured during attack

The forest department team that arrived to remove encroachment in Sheopur was attacked. The encroachers surrounded the forest personnel. They beat them with sticks. They vandalized the vehicles. The forest department staff saved their lives by fleeing from the spot. A forest department team was attacked on Tuesday in Masawani village of Sheopur district, leaving a forest guard seriously injured. A video of the incident has also surfaced. According to a complaint filed at Aawda police station, forest guard Hira Lal Sen said he and his team were carrying out tree plantation work after removing an encroachment. During the work, many local villagers reached the spot and protested against the encroachment removal. After a brief scuffle, the villagers allegedly assaulted the forest staff. Following the sudden attack, the forest department team stopped the work and retreated from the area to save their lives. Vehicle windows smashed
Forest guard Hiralal Sen said – The attackers not only assaulted the forest personnel but also targeted departmental vehicles. They broke the windows of the vehicles by throwing stones and hitting them with sticks. They severely damaged them. Amidst the chaos at the scene, the attackers fled. See, two pictures… Police identifying attackers
Awda police station in-charge Rahul Rajput said – An application has been received from the forest department. The investigation of the matter has been started. Police are identifying the attackers. The damage is being assessed. Meanwhile, forest department officials, expressing concern over the safety of field staff, have demanded that police force must be mandatorily deployed during such sensitive operations in the future.