Siddipet District Tense Over Gouravelli Project

The decision of the Siddipet district administration to conduct a trial run at the Gouravelli project site led to tension at Gudatipally village of Akkannapeta mandal of the district.

Acting on reports that the land oustees of the project would obstruct the conduct of the trial run, the local police reportedly apprehended around 100 of them and shifted them to different police stations in the district, and tense moments prevailed in thr process. The family members of the oustees and the villagers stopped the police from making the arrests, and entered into serious arguments with the police. Huge crowds also gathered in the village to stop the police from carrying out any arrests. Sensing trouble in the area, the police reportedly resorted to a lathi-charge in order to disperse the crowd. Some of the land oustees are said to have sustained injuries during the lathi-charge.

However, the local police claimed that no lathi charge took place, and that they had only extended their cooperation to the irrigation department of the district. Siddipet Police Commissioner Swetha Reddy P C said that only some mild jostling took place between the police and the land oustees when the latter were being arrested.

Reddy also said that the police did not use any force against the women and farmers of the village. She added that Additional Collector Srinivas Reddy was holding talks with the land oustees to render justice to them.

Meanwhile, TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy condemned the reported lathi-charge by the police on the land oustees in the middle of the night. He said that the Congress would stand by the oustees till they got justice.

State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar too condemned the alleged lathi charge.