On Monday, a group of farmers from Madanapalle Mandal, Anna Maya district met with the government whip Pidugu Hariprasad in his office in Vijayawada, urging a pregnant leopard to release the “false cases” against them from a recent marriage in the outskirts of their village.
Farmers claim forest officials resorted to arresting their families without any notice or inquiry. They claimed that when their land was near the site of the leopard’s death, the landowner was arrested. They added that the villagers had no part of the land border and the death of the leopard.
The farmers also submitted a memorandum to Mr Hariprasad and requested a fair investigation and withdrawal of the cases of innocent farmers. They urged the government to bring its plight to the notice of Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan to remedy it quickly.
Mr Hariprasad assured the farmers and their families that he would work with the Deputy Chief Minister who holds the Forest Portfolio. A delegation of local leaders from the Jana Sena Party (JSP) from Madanapalle.
The death of the leopard, which occurred on April 16, caused a sensation in the area, forcing senior officials of the Forest Ministry to rush to Madanapalle to launch an investigation as directed by Mr Pawan Kalyan.
publishing – April 21, 2025, 17:00 pm IST
