Date:29/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/29/stories/2007072953560400.htm

Andhra Pradesh

It was waiting to happen!

D. Chandra Bhaskar Rao

A woman Sarpanch’s fast culminated in the violent protest
Plainclothes policemen opened fire on the crowd

MUDIGONDA: One of the stronghold of the CPI (M), Mudigonda witnessed the worst of violence in the State during the bandh called by the Left parties.

The five-day-long fasting undertaken by woman Sarpanch Bandi Padma and a host of others culminated in a violent protest, resulting in police firing.

Some 300 party men stopped vehicles on the Kodad-Khammam State highway for nearly two hours bringing the traffic to a halt.

They refused to relent, despite repeated appeal by the police to give up the protest and help clear the vehicular traffic.

The protesters made it clear that the protest would not be called off, until they received a direction from the district unit of the party.

Heated exchanges between the sarpanch’s husband Bandi Ramesh and a Circle Inspector led to a violent confrontation.

As they found themselves to have been outnumbered by the CPI (M) activists and also unarmed, the 20-odd policemen returned to the station, which was just half-a-kilometre away from the scene.

Additional Superintendent of Police M. Ramesh Babu, who reached the spot in a jeep, made a vain attempt to talk to the protesters. Some of the constables tried to disperse the crowd by caning. A woman, who was injured in the incident, collapsed on the ground. Enraged by this, the protesters turned violent and hurled stones and attacked the additional SP’s vehicle, resulting in bleeding injuries to half-a-dozen policemen, including Circle Inspector Surender Reddy.

Soon, gunmen of the additional SP and the circle inspector opened fire into the air. They took positions in a near by scrap store. With the situation going out of control, they directed their guns at the crowd. Five of the protesters died on the spot, while another person died on the way to the hospital. CPI (M) leaders Bandi Ramesh, Rayala Venkateswarlu and Vasireddy Prasad had a close shave with bullets.

According to the eye witnesses, plainclothesmen opened fire on the crowd with three to four guns. A lorry driver was also killed in the firing. Others killed in the incident were from Mudigonda, Gokinepali and Chirumarri villages.