The accord reached at an all-party meeting on Tuesday evening to get both the tribals and CPM workers pitted against them to evict 1,500 acres of prime government land in Munnar’s Chinnakkanal did not appear to be working today.

The tribals, organised under local NGOs, had agreed to leave on the assurance of the district administration that efforts to survey and hand over the land for which they hold valid government-granted titles would begin today. The tribals were granted title deeds three years ago, but no land to go with it.

However, the tribals backtracked today after receiving the news that one of the activists leading them, C P Shaji, had been attacked by CPM cadres soon after he had left Tuesday’s meeting. Shaji is in a local hospital now, with severe injuries.

Angry tribals decided to back off from their agreement to leave. Local officials said the tribals conveyed today that they would stay put until they were actually handed over the land.Even CPM cadres haven’t vacated the land occupied by them entirely. Though several hundred of them had left their posts by morning today, many remain in makeshift huts, set up after bringing down tribal dwellings.

Official sources said that the process to remove all encroachments would begin once the deadline expires on Friday.

Some 200-odd tribal families had symbolically taken over the land after earlier government promises to give it to them didn’t materialise. In retaliation, thousands of CPM cadres had gone into the area on Tuesday, demolishing makeshift tribal huts and chasing tribals onto a hillock. CPM cadres had then fenced off huge areas and planted party flags all over.