Farmers and other locals staged a protest today in Mylaram village, Balmoor mandal, Nagarkurnool district.
They wanted to launch a relay hunger strike with the slogan "mining vaddu, gutta muddu" (translating to "no mining, we want the hill") opposing mining activities in the area. However, the authorities did not permit them to proceed with the strike, resulting in a large number of women and farmers then taking to the streets and protesting by sitting on the road with cans of pesticide.
Several farmers and locals were then preemptively arrested by the police and taken to the local police station. The villagers accused the authorities of illegally detaining the farmers, and warned of suicides if those arrested were not released.
Meanwhile, civil rights leaders Professor Haragopal and Gaddam Laxman travelled from Hyderabad to support the locals in Mylaram. However, they were intercepted by the police at Veldanda and taken into custody.