Krishna district police resorted to mild lathi-charge when tobacco farmers tried to disrupt the auction of tobacco at the Keesara Tobacco Auction platform on Saturday.
The tobacco farmers and Mylavaram MLA Devineni Umamaheswara Rao staged a rasta roko on National Highway number 9 to protest against the lathi-charge of the farmers.
The police also took a few farmers into preventive custody and released them later.
No remunerative price
Some tobacco farmers created a stir at the Keesara platform demanding that the auction be stopped as they were not getting remunerative prices.
A contingent of policemen arrived on the scene when they reportedly received a call from the auction platform officials that the farmers were trying to force their way into the office to damage property.
The police force that arrived at the platform had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd at the platform.
Appoint official
Mr Uma Maheswara Rao who arrived at the platform after the lathi-charge demanded that a special officer be appointed to ensure the smooth conduct of the auction.
Plea to government
The Devineni Umamaheswara Rao urged the State Government to take steps to create buoyancy in the market so that the price of tobacco increased to R 8,000-Rs 10,000 from the current Rs 3,000 per tonne
