Date:30/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/30/stories/2008123053140400.htm

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Andhra Pradesh - Eluru

Tension over ryot’s death

Staff Reporter

People stage protest at Panchayat office with body

Police flayed for not arresting the accused
TDP legislator consoles bereaved family

Photo: A.V.G.Prasad

Grief-stricken: Family members of the farmer from Kovvali village in West Godavari district, wailing on Monday. –

ELURU: Tension prevailed at Kovvali in Denduluru mandal of West Godavari district on Monday in the wake of the death of a farmer in a group clash.

A group belonging to the victim, Musunuri Rama Rao (65), who succumbed to injuries on Sunday night, staged a protest at the Panchayat office along with the body for four hours, criticising the police for not effecting immediate arrest of the accused.

According to information, a herd of buffalos belonging to one Katta Srinivasa Rao allegedly damaged the paddy fields of Rama Rao on December 18, leading to a clash in which the latter reportedly succumbed to injuries on Sunday night.

Caste dimesion

The incident assumed a caste dimension with the caste classes/associations jumping into the fray.

Major political parties did a balancing act in their bid to keep both the groups in good humour on the eve of byelection to the Denduluru Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency scheduled on Tuesday. Garapati Sambhasiva Rao, former TDP MLA, visited the village and consoled the bereaved family.

Minister for Minor Irrigation Maganti Venkateswara Rao and Zilla Parishad Chairman K.V. Nageswara Rao, who campaigned in the area, chose to remain silent on the issue. The protesters allowed Rama Rao’s body to be shifted for post-mortem examination only after a promise by Eluru DSP V. Prem Kumar to go into their demand for suspension of the local Station House Officer.