Tumakuru clash: officials succeed in winning over village residents

They agree to perform last rites of Tumakuru varsity employee

December 22, 2014 12:27 am | Updated 02:30 am IST - Tumakuru

After hours of negotiations and a day of tension, the district administration finally succeeded in convincing the agitating village residents on Sunday to bury the body of Shivakumar (31), a Tumakuru University worker, who had committed suicide.

The suicide is suspected to be in connection with the acquisition of land for a solid waste plant near Ajjagondanahalli.

All through Sunday, farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar, the district administration and the police officials met the village residents and convinced them into performing the last rites. Compensation was announced for the victim’s kin.

While the body was eventually buried late in the evening, tension remained in the area which saw clashes between the police and the residents. This left 11 people injured, including nine police personnel.

Police Inspector Abdul Khader, who sustained head injuries, was reported out of danger at NIMHANS in Bengaluru. While the other policemen have been discharged, two injured residents are still in a government hospital.

While it’s not clear why Shivakumar committed suicide, authorities clarified that “not a single inch of land” of the deceased was acquired for the project.

Deputy Commissioner K.S. Sathyamurthy told The Hindu, “Tumkur City Municipal Corporation had acquired 40 acres and 24 guntas land for the plant. This is as per the directions of the High Court, and we cannot shift the plant now.”

Former Minister S. Shivanna said, “Politicians have bought acres of land near the plant and hence they are instigating the protests as the plant could spoil real estate prices in the area.”

However, State president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sanga Kodihalli Chandrashekar alleged that the government was responsible for the death and demanded a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.