The police have arrested one Poonachcha from Goodlooru village in Kodagu on Wednesday for allegedly firing on a tribal settlement on April 10 evening to allegedly threaten tribals camping in Siddapura police station limits.
While the problems of the Diddalli tribals still remains unsettled, the tribals evicted from the reserve forest area in December continue to camp near the school at Diddalli although they have withdrawn their protest. They have refused to accept the alternate lands identified by the Kodagu district administration for sites to be allotted to them. They reportedly want both sites and land for farming at Diddalli for all the tribals residing in line houses in coffee plantations in Kodagu.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has scheduled a meeting of the tribals with revenue minister Kagodu Thimmappa next week to resolve the issue, sources said.
According to police, Poonachcha had reportedly paid money to tribals camping at Diddalli to come to work in his estate. But the tribals reportedly did not turn up for work. When Poonachcha asked them to either return to work or return the money, they refused resulting in a minor clash.
Sources said Poonachcha was beaten up by some tribals. Two days later, Poonachcha in an act of revenge reportedly fired two rounds in the air and one round at a tent which was empty in Diddalli. The hole in the tarpaulin was visible, said sources. Hence a suo motu case of misuse of firearms was registered. On Wednesday, Poonachcha was arrested, Siddapura police said.
