Timber smuggling : Five community elders submitted a petition to Collector

In what could be seen as a turnaround in their attitude, the Multanis of Keshavpatnam, Gundala, Jogipet and Yellammaguda in Ichoda mandal of Adilabad district have offered to surrender the absconding accused in a case related with timber smuggling registered on March 7.

Five community elders submitted a petition to Collector D. Divya on Monday expressed willingness towards the surrender and even sought rehabilitation.

“We have conducted two meetings in our mosque before arriving at a decision to surrender the accused,” recalled Sk. Esa, an elder in the community who led the group of Multanis to Adilabad on a mission to meet the Collector, Superintendent of Police Vishnu S. Warrier and District Forest Officer B. Prabhakar seeking an sympathateic view of the problem of timber smuggling.

It may be stated here that a good number of Multanis are into timber smuggling and the government has initiated stern action against the culprits, including booking of cases under the Preventive Detention Act.

The petition carries a confessional part which has the Multanis say that even their forefathers had carried on with illegal felling and transportation of teak wood.

They are totally dependent upon the activity since those times but in view of the move of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made towards protecting forest, the Multanis are prepared to surrender themselves to law and make a new beginning if rehabilitation is offered, it added.

The petitioners wanted the rehabilitation package to consider allotment of 5 acres of land to all individuals, sanction of loans, regularisation of encroached lands, sanction of 2BHK houses, pensions etc so that the smugglers are weaned away from their activities.

It maybe noted here that the district administration has already designed a rehabilitation package which has been accepted by the State Government.