Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

TDP, Congress groups clash over land

ANANTAPUR: Eight supporters of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) were injured in an attack allegedly by a Congress group at Narsapuram village in Pedda Pappuru mandal in the district on Wednesday over a ‘porambok’ land issue. The injured were admitted to the government hospital at Tadipatri and General Hospital here. According to information reaching here, Venkatesh, a Congress sympathiser, reportedly levelled about half acre ‘porambok’ land in the ‘Yetigadda’ area outside the village for cultivation. Noticing this, Peddanna, a TDP sympathiser from SC community, who attempted cultivation on the same piece of land in the past but was not allowed by the village elders, went there with a tractor for tilling the land.

Following a heated debate, it was agreed to settle the issue amicably by holding talks. Accordingly, a TDP group went there for talks, but were allegedly attacked by the opponents with sticks and hunting sickles in a pre-planned move. Peddanna, Ramanjula Reddy, T. Babu, Veeraiah, Hari, Pedda Krishnaiah, Ramudu and another person were injured in the attack. They were immediately rushed to the government hospital at Tadipatri and from there Ramanjula Reddy and Babu were referred to the General Hospital here as they suffered grievous injuries.

The injured alleged that T. Ramana, Bhaskar Reddy and 24 others attacked them. The Congress group were the supporters of Panchayat Raj Minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy, while the TDP group were supporters of Peram Nagi Reddy. Though the Congress group also claimed that some persons on its side were injured in the ‘attack’ by TDP group nobody turned up at the Tadipatri hospital till evening.

Later, TDP leaders Peram Nagi Reddy, H. Fayaz Basha, Ch. Venkataramana, S. Narayana Reddy and others went to the rural police station at Tadipatri and tried to lodge the complaint, but the police refused to accept it. The TDP activists staged a protest there immediately and Tadipatri DSP Malla Reddy rushed there.

The DSP told the TDP leaders that they could lodge a complaint in Pedda Pappuru police station as the Tadipatri rural police station jurisdiction was different. He offered to provide escort to the TDP leaders to go to Pedda Pappuru.

But, the TDP leaders accused the DSP of playing into the hands of Congress stating that the rural police had already accepted the Congress complaint.

After a heated argument, the DSP allowed the TDP leaders to lodge a complaint in the rural police station.

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TDP, Congress groups clash over land

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