The Hindu : Front Page : Suicide drama near YSR’s residence

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Wednesday, Jul 16, 2008
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Suicide drama near YSR’s residence

Staff Reporter

Ryot belonging to Chittoor district threatens to leap from unipole

— Photo G. Krishnaswamy

Crying for attention: Madan Mohan Reddy, the Chittoor farmer, tries to do the balancing act atop the unipole.

HYDERABAD: The western and northern parts of the State capital experienced a traffic gridlock situation after a farmer threatened to leap to death from a unipole near the Chief Minister’s residence in Begumpet on Tuesday.

Those returning from offices and schools had a tough time as they landed in a four-hour-long traffic ordeal, which ended only around 8 p.m. after the police negotiated and convinced the farmer, identified as Madan Mohan Reddy, to get down. His claim was that Governemnt Chief Whip N. Kiran Kumar Reddy grabbed his 2.5-acre plot of land in Kaligiri village of Chittoor district.

With the drama unfolding and police reaching the place in large numbers, traffic movement was reduced to a crawl on the Greenlands-Somajiguda stretch. Soon, all connecting roads towards Secunderabad and Banjara Hills side too experienced traffic jams. An ambulance rushing a patient to Image Hospital was caught in the jam and a couple of road rage incidents too were reported.

Reddy made similar suicide attempts in the city thrice keeping the police on tenterhooks but gave up after help was assured. This time, Reddy climbed atop the unipole opposite the Chief Minister’s camp office around 4 p.m. and called up a TV news channel office stating that he would leap to death if the Government failed to resolve his problem.

Apparently enjoying the official and media attention, Reddy threatened to jump and sometimes insisted that the Chief Minister himself should come out to listen to him. Police were at their wits end as they were unable to convince him to come down. Neither did they want any security lapse in the high security zone abutting the camp office.

A fire tender was kept on the standby, as officials mulled the option of sending commandos in a snorkel. An ambulance and a unit of the Quick Response Team was also positioned near the place. Ultimately, it was the negotiating skills of Inspector K. Ram Narsimha Reddy that paid dividends. The police officer who tackled the farmer in similar situations earlier, engaged him in conversation for over two hours and persuaded him to come down.

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