Threatened tribal families take refuge in District Collector's office

Narayanpatra (Orissa), May 30 (ANI): Thirty families of Kondh community have taken shelter in District Collector's office after being left homeless in Narayanpatna area here following a Maoist support group's attack on their village.

Villagers said that a Maoist support group 'Chashi Mulia Adivasi Sangh', arrived here in their village shouting slogans of 'Jal, Jungle, Jamin' (water, forest and land).

The group ransacked the village and forced its residents to leave their houses.

"They came in a gang with different weapons. They destroyed and looted our houses. They belong to the Chashi Mulia Sangh. We are facing a lot of problems, we have no food, we have nothing with us," said a victim Ram Chandra.

Villagers said they felt very scared after the attackers threatened to kill all male members of the village. The families had to take shelter in the District Collectors' office.

"They threw stones at us. They broke our houses. We were scared about the security of the male members of the village. Though we did not let males to come out of the houses. But they (attackers) threatened to kill them. So we left our houses and took shelter Narayanpatna Block office. We need help," said Manohari Bhatra, a tribal woman.

Meanwhile, the District Collector Bichitrananda Das has said that relief is being provided for the victims and peace-building measures are being initiated as well.

"We have provided relief for those who have been adversely affected. We are also providing rehabilitation packages for the people adversely affected especially for their house damage. For the peace building process, senior officers from the district administration, local officials, schoolteachers, primary school workers are visiting the affected villages and interacting with the people. We are trying to escalate the pace of development programmes in the area," said Bichitrananda Das, District Collector of Koraput. By Sarada Lahangir(ANI)