Deepak Chaudhary of Adivasi Ekta Parishad said forest officials had resorted to rumour-mongering to scare away Adivasis so that they do not cultivate land, now marked as reserved and protected forests which is a root cause of friction between the Adivasis and forest officials. The conflict has entered a new phase with forest officials launching a mischievous propaganda saying that the High Court stay which prohibits forest department from evicting them from "forest land" has been vacated, Chaudhary told The Indian Express.

Dangs's Deputy Collector B P Sudani refused to comment saying he was least concerned about tribals. "I have no time", he said.

Deputy ConservatorForest Ram Kumar, when contacted, claimed that the department had created goodwill among tribals.

"We are doing a lot of welfare activities in the Adivasi villages of Dangs. If we were harassing them, they would not have come to us". He said Adivasis Ekta Parishad's allegations were "false and baseless". About the Court stay, DCF asserted "it is no longer in force after a Supreme Court ruling".

However, Paresh Chaudhary, an advocate who has been handling tribals cases, refuted DCF's claim saying forest officials are "misleading poor and innocent Adivasis".