Encroachment removal drive in Guna stalls after minister’s intervention:60 JCBs, 100 personnel return from site; forest officer cites need for re-demarcation

In Saretha village of Bamori area, the Forest Department prepared to clear encroachment from 3,000 bighas of forest land with 60 JCBs and over 100 staff on duty. However, before the operation began, the minister ordered DFO Akshay Rathore to stop the action. Rathore said villagers have claimed lease rights, and action will follow re-demarcation. According to information, the Forest Department learned that about 3,000 bighas of land in Saretha village had been under encroachment for several years. Officials confirmed the illegal occupation during an investigation.
Order issued on October 22
Planning to remove encroachment was done in October. On October 22, DFO Akshay Rathore issued an order stating, The eviction action against encroachment in Beat Saretha under Forest Range Bamori is to be carried out on 24.10.2025 as a joint operation by the Forest, Police, and Revenue departments. Staff called from across district
Under the order, employees from several sub-divisions of the district were deployed. This included the entire staff from Fatehgarh and Bamori, the entire female staff and 12 male employees each from Guna North and South, 7 from Aron, 12 from Binaganj, 8 from Raghogarh, and the entire female staff and 12 male employees from Madhusudanagar were called. 60 JCBs are ready, food also prepared
More than 100 forest department personnel had reached Bamori on October 23 for the operation. Preparations for food for the personnel began there, and videos of which also surfaced. According to sources, 60 JCBs were prepared for the operation, some of which were brought from Rajasthan. They had also been filled with diesel. Team suddenly called back
The operation was supposed to start on the morning of October 24, but before that, the entire team was suddenly called back. The operation was postponed the same night. No junior employee at that time understood the reason for suddenly stopping the operation. Call came to DFO to stop action – Source
According to sources, those encroaching had got wind of this action. In such a situation, some local leaders there tried to stop the action by talking to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. However, Scindia clearly stated that it was an administrative action. After this, another minister in the government was contacted. Following this, a call came to the DFO and the action was stopped. In this matter, DFO Akshay Rathore said, The villagers there are claiming some of their land deeds. Actually, Saretha was an old forest village. We had identified from our records which deeds we had issued. Besides those, the villagers are claiming other deeds. So we felt that it would be necessary to check it once first. The SDO has been asked to investigate. We are conducting demarcation so that it can be determined whose land is which. So that action is not taken in the wrong place. Bhaskar’s questions to DFO? When demarcation was already done, why talk of re-demarcation and leases now? He said, Demarcation was done earlier, but when the team arrived, locals produced lease papers, some issued by the revenue department on forest land. As multiple claims surfaced, verification became necessary, so the cases will be re-examined. Reports say heavy expenses were made for preparations, including diesel for JCBs. Why was the action postponed? To this he said, that’s not true. The staff was to arrive with 700 people in the morning. It’s better to pause and act correctly than to take hasty action. Steps will be ta Sources say that a senior official called, after which the action was stopped? He said, No, that’s absolutely not the case. No one called. It was my decision. I had organised the action and I decided to stop it. Once the full verification is done, action will be taken. ​