Stones pelted during anti-encroachment drive in Burhanpur forest area; three injured

Indore: An anti-encroachment drive in Jhanjhar area of Burhanpur's Nepanagar forest range turned violent on Sunday morning when a mob of illegal occupants pelted stones at the joint task force involved in the drive. A revenue inspector, a patwari and driver of an earth moving machine were injured in the incident.A force of over 500 personnel from forest, police, and revenue departments—drawn from Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone, and Barwaha—reached the forest area at 11am to clear the illegal settlements. According to forest officials, despite having been served eviction notices, the encroachers refused to vacate the land.As the team commenced the demolition, a group of over 150 people started pelting stones at them. The violence resulted in damage to three earth moving machines. A driver of one of the machines, Kamal Bansal, sustained head injuries after a stone hit him, causing him to lose control of the vehicle which then overturned. He was rushed to district hospital and is reported to be out of danger.The task force cleared 49 temporary huts across approximately 190 hectares of forest land. Anti-encroachment trenches were also dug up to prevent future re-occupation.DFO Vidyabhushan Singh said that the drive targeted ineligible occupants—persons from outside the district who failed to provide proof of residency prior to 2005. "The operation will continue as per the law. We have identified those involved in the violence and are registering forest offences and criminal cases against them," Singh said.