30 held for cultivating in forest land

The arrested, who belong to Esur village, have been remanded to judicial custody till June 29.

This is the second such incident in the taluk; 21 farmers were arrested last week. The farmers have said that they were cultivating the revenue land and were being evicted for political reasons.

Dismissing the farmers’ claim, the Forest Department has said that the land was encroached by clearing the trees on it.

Memorandum

Meanwhile, a delegation from the District Congress Committee, headed by former minister Kagodu Thimmappa, has submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner to stop the eviction of bagair hukum farmers.