Forest Department asks tribals to surrender illegal guns in Tirupattur

Tirupattur division of Forest Department has asked tribals in Yelagiri and Jawadhu Hills in the district to voluntarily surrender their illegal country-made guns by September 10.

Officials of the Forest Department said that, in coordination with revenue officials and police, village heads in the hills were roped in to convince tribals, who were in possession of country-made guns, to surrender them at a common place like a village temple or panchayat office.

“The initiative will also help those people who are willing to surrender illegal weapons, but could be reluctant due to fear of cases being filed against them. Under the initiative, the identity of the volunteers will not be disclosed and no cases will be filed against them,” M Babu, forest range officer (Ambur), told The Hindu. 

The initiative comes in the wake of a series of country-made guns seized by police in Gudiyatham and surrounding areas after police conducted surprise checks based on alerts since July. At present, the Forest Department does not have any data on the total number of such country-made guns in the hills. Based on alerts, Forest officials, in coordination with police, seize country-made guns in the hills. Most guns in the hills were passed through generations by ancestors. As per police records, the district has 177 licensed guns, which were surrendered mostly prior to elections.

Forest officials said that before independence, such possession of country made guns helped tribals to protect themselves from wild animals, and for hunting purposes. It helped them to transport their produce to markets in the plains and return home safely. With better roads and transport now, possession of arms is unnecessary, forest officials said.