Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Police accused of harassing Dalits

By Our Staff Reporter

CUDDAPAH Nov. 2. Leaders of an all-party committee on Sunday charged the police with raiding Thoti Harijanawada in Pedinenikalva panchayat in Tsundupalle mandal almost every day and terrorising the people in connection with the People's War's famine raid in the mandal on May 14 this year.

Addressing a press conference, the district CPI secretary, G. Obulesu, the district CPI(M) secretary, B. Narayana, the Bahujan Samaj Party State secretary, V. Deva Kumar, and the Kulavivaksha Vyatireka Porata Samithi secretary, C. Babu, condemned, what they called, the terror unleashed by the Rayachoti CI, Venkatarathnam, the Tsundupalle SI, Shareef, and special party policemen in Thoti Harijanawada, forcing most people, including women, to flee the village.

A labourer, Ravindra, was arrested under the POTA and underwent imprisonment for six months and another villager, Venkatesh, was arrested yesterday on the charge of participating in the famine raid on a TDP leader's house. They charged the police with harassing Dalits of almost all the 80 households in the Harijanawada.

They urged the district Collector, Jayesh Ranjan, to intervene and ensure that normalcy was restored in the village and said all villagers could not be taken to task for the fault of a couple of youth. They threatened to resort to agitation if police did not mend their ways. Alleging that policemen took away money and some sarees from the Dalits in the raids during May-end, they demanded steps to return them to the villagers concerned. They wanted grant of loans to the villagers to generate employment.

A Dalit of the village, Pala Radha, told newsmen that his brother, Ravindra, was charged under POTA and released on bail after six months imprisonment. He said another accused, Venkatesh, lodged in the Tsundupalle police station for four days, escaped but was caught yesterday. Due to severe beating, he named several persons who were not connected with the famine raid and policemen were harassing them, he alleged.

Another Dalit, Pala Krishnaiah, an ex-serviceman, alleged that his son, Yadaiah, who was learning vehicle driving in Cuddapah, absconded when police tried to implicate him in the case. The upa- sarpanch of Pedinenikalva, Pamaiah, an ex-serviceman, Nagaiah, a degree student in Rayachoti Government College, D. Anjaneyulu, Rajasekhar, Pala Yerraiah and several others were absconding unable to bear the police harassment, Radha said. Two other villagers -- Maddela Veeranagaiah and G. Ramanjulu -- also narrated the villagers' plight.

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