Tension In Mancherial As Lambadis, Gonds Clash Turns Violent 

Intra-tribal tensions rocked North Andhra tribal belt once again. Even before the tensions in the Utnoor belt died down, the Gond tribals and lambadis attacked each other in Mancherial district headquarters town.

The tribals and lambadis were locked in a bitter tussle over ST reservation facility to the latter. The Gonds and other tribals are demanding that Lambadis be removed from the scheduled tribes. This led to violence and arson in Utnoor in Asifabad district.

On Monday, three youths, allegedly from the Lambadi group, attacked Gond tribal Bhim Rao of Kolamguda in Jannaram mandal. He was hospitalised in Mancheriyal. Blaming Lambadis for the attack, a large number of Gond tribals attacked Kothapet thanda and set fire to Lambadi huts on Tuesday. They also damaged several vehicles.

A large number of police personnel were deployed in the town and in other sensitive areas to prevent any untoward incident. DCP Manohar is holding parleys with both the groups to diffuse the situation. The Gond tribals say that Lambadis are not STs and that they do not enjoy the ST status either in Karnataka or Maharashtra. They argue that Lambadis are gobbling up the jobs and funds meant for the tribals.