Situation is tense, but under control at Chintaloor tanda of Bheemgal mandal as Malavath Devya (45), who was seriously injured in the attack by Chemgal villagers on Tuesday, died at a hospital in Hyderabad while undergoing treatment on Wednesday.
A large posse of police deployed in the village is on high alert with the body of Devya arriving in the night. Led by Armoor Assistant CP Shivakumar and Bodhan ACP Raghu the police intensified patrolling in and around the village.
Shivakumar told The Hindu arrangements were made for Devya’s funeral immediately after receiving it. He said a murder case has been booked against the attackers and 10 accused persons were taken into custody. They would be produced in court on Thursday, he said.
Devya is survived by wife, one married daughter and two sons.
Social media campaign
A baseless campaign in social media proved fatal for strangers in villages in the district. Despite the police appealing to residents not to get carried away by the rumours, people in rural areas are in the grip of fear of Parthi gangs and kidnappers of children for the last couple of days. The rumours claimed the life of Malavath Devya of Chintalur hamlet and resulted in serious injuries to another person at Chemgal in Bheemgal mandal on Tuesday.
Youth moving in groups and armed with lethal weapons attacked the strangers without properly ascertaining their identity and background. At Peda Valgote in Sirikonda mandal locals handed over two persons to the police. They were unknown to the villagers.
Trouble began when a shepherd boy while grazing his sheep encountered Megavathlal of MG tribal hamlet and Devya on the outskirts of Chemgal on Tuesday. The boy immediately rushed to the village and alerted the residents. Some youth armed with sticks attacked the duo causing severe injuries to both.In a similar incident at Ummeda in Nandipet mandal the villagers beat four persons black and blue. The victims were from Bengal and had settled at Perkit in Amoor mandal. They could not speak Telugu, so they failed to provide a satisfactory answer to the villagers who assaulted them.
The rumours in social media has resulted in the people spending sleepless nights. They are not allowing children to play outside. Adding to the fears there are clips of violent scenes being circulated in the social media. Youth are going around in groups in their villages during night to provide security. The timely arrival of Sirikonda Sub-Inspector of Police Basheer Ahmed helped two persons escape attack at Peda Valgote. They were identified as Balaji and Madhav.
Commissioner of Police Kartikeya said the police intensified the patrolling.
