The backlash over the Congress authorities’s dealing with of a November 11 incident in Vikarabad in Telangana through which senior officers had been attacked throughout a public listening to on land acquisition is spreading, with villagers accusing the police of excesses in going after the alleged assaulters.
The Opposition, together with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) whose leaders are amongst these arrested and the BJP, have taken up the matter, demanding accountability from Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. The tribal-dominated Lagacherla village the place the incident occurred falls in Revanth’s Kodangal Meeting constituency.
With the NHRC and different human rights commissions visiting the village, the state authorities on Monday transferred Karunasagar Reddy, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Parigi zone in Vikarabad. It has requested Extra DGP (Legislation and Order) Mahesh Bhagwat to conduct a probe into the matter.
Lagacherla and its surrounding villages are dominated by tribals of the Lambada group. The Telangana authorities has proposed to accumulate round 1,000 acres of land right here for a pharmaceutical hub – the primary such acquisition within the space, which the group is strongly against. The Opposition has identified that among the many firms within the pharma hub is a relative of Revanth.
On November 11, District Collector Prateek Jain, Kodangal Space Improvement Authority Chairman Venkat Reddy, and a number of other Income Division officers visited Lagacherla for a public listening to on the land acquisition. The villagers boycotted the listening to and attacked the officers, reportedly “unprovoked”, with sticks, bricks and stones, with the assault lasting a number of minutes.
Whereas Jain escaped unhurt, Reddy and others had been critically injured. As movies of the assault went viral, an FIR was filed on the Bomraspet Police Station, following which the police raids adopted. Villagers have mentioned policemen raided their properties, together with at evening, and beat them up, with ladies too not spared.
Officers have mentioned practically 60 individuals have been arrested, together with former BRS MLA Patnam Narender Reddy and native BRS chief B Suresh. Of their remand report, the police have referred to as Narender and Suresh the “masterminds” of the assault, and claimed that Narender has confessed he was in contact with BRS working president Ok T Rama Rao, often called KTR, and that it was on the latter’s instructions that the assault befell. Narender has denied giving any such confession.
Telangana Income Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy mentioned BRS leaders had deliberate the assault to defame the state authorities. “With out even listening to out the officers who went to speak to them, they attacked. It was pre-planned,” he mentioned.
Denying any involvement, KTR has accused CM Reddy of “usurping” lands of farmers for the advantage of an organization promoted by his shut relative. On Monday, KTR mentioned “the plight of tribals in Lagacherla” deserved the identical consideration because the ethnic violence in Manipur.
“Farmers, tribal ladies, and marginalised communities from Lagacherla have turn into victims of forceful land acquisition. These people, who’ve lived and thrived on their lands for many years, are actually (being) subjected to police brutality and governmental tyranny. Late-night police operations concerned chopping off electrical energy, forcefully getting into properties, and detaining male members indiscriminately. Stories element how the police harassed ladies, together with pregnant ladies, with some alleging cases of sexual misconduct. Villagers declare they had been assaulted, threatened, and humiliated. Many male members have fled the village in concern, whereas others stay untraceable,” he mentioned.
The BRS chief has referred to as on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to go to Lagacherla. A crew of BRS leaders led by KTR has additionally sought a gathering with President Droupadi Murmu.
BJP leaders, together with MPs D Ok Aruna and Eatala Rajender, and MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, who had been on their strategy to meet the villagers had been detained by the police.
On Monday, Lagacherla was visited by a crew of Telangana Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Fee, and officers of the Nationwide Human Rights Fee, the Nationwide SC and ST Commissions, and the Nationwide Fee for Ladies.
