Amaravati farmers protest house sites to poor, many held
The development took place a day before chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to distribute house site pattas to over 50,000 poor families for construction of weaker section houses
Hyderabad
Tension prevailed in Thullur town of Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday as the police arrested several farmers who were agitating against the distribution of residential plots for the weaker sections from other parts of the state in the capital region, officials and farmers’ leaders said.
The police swooped on the “deeksha sibiram” (dharna camp) at Thullur, where men and women farmers have been agitating for over two years demanding that the capital city be retained in Amaravati, and took several of them into custody, people aware of the matter said.
The development took place a day before chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to distribute house site pattas to over 50,000 poor families for construction of weaker section houses on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the farmers were protesting the chief minister’s programme, following a call given by TDP Guntur district unit president and former MLA Tenali Sravan Kumar.
The ruling YSR Congress party activists have given a call for a motorcycle rally in the village in support of the government’s decision to give house sites for the poor.
This led to a tense situation in the village and the police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Cr PC and declared that no permission would be given for any kind of protests, as it might lead to breakdown of law and order, a police official from Thullur police station said.
As the farmers were trying to stage a dharna at the protest camp, the police stopped them. When they resisted, the police took them into custody and shifted them to the police station, the police official said.
The police also arrested advocate and Jai Bhim Bharat Party president Jada Sravan Kumar, who was trying to break the barriers to express solidarity with the agitating farmers.
“It is atrocious that the police have chosen to trample the democratic rights of the farmers to peacefully agitate. We are not against anybody or any party. We are only agitating in support of the legitimate rights of Amaravati farmers,” Sravan Kumar said, talking to reporters at the police station.
The Thullur police made an announcement in the public address system that anybody attempting to protest or enter the area will be arrested. The police also kept local TDP leaders under house arrest as a precautionary measure, the official quoted above said.