Bhubaneswar, June 30 -- A plantation drive in Odisha's Bolangir district turned violent after a group of villagers allegedly chased and assaulted six forest personnel during an official afforestation exercise. The fatal incident, reported from Yubamal village under Turekela police limits in Bangomunda Range, came to light on Tuesday after a video of the alleged attack surfaced online and began circulating widely.

According to allegations, the Forest Department had initiated a tree plantation programme on forest land in Mundapada, where local residents had allegedly encroached upon government forest land, where the afforestation was being carried out. Forest officials had visited the site to supervise the plantation work when tensions esc...