Tension has been prevailing in Dharma tanda and surrounding tandas of Tallapally area for the past few weeks and it aggravated after Gugloth Jaisingh, a resident of Dharma tanda, was injured in police lathi-charge in the early hours of Tuesday.
“It all began at about 1.20 a.m. on Tuesday when I was sleeping at my farm with two others – Srinu and Jagan. There was some commotion and suddenly someone started hitting me in the dark. I didn’t know what was happening and by the time I came to my senses, both my legs were injured,” says Gugloth Jaisingh.
His fellow villagers had smelt something amiss when they had a glimpse of someone moving around in the dark. To their surprise, they found out that it was the police who beat up Gugloth Jaisingh. As the news spread, the villagers from the entire tanda gathered in large numbers and beat up the police personnel and they partially damaged their vehicles.
Dispute over landAfter this incident, additional forces were roped in to bring the situation under control. The root of all this lies in one Praveen Rao encroaching the tribal land, allege residents of Dharma tanda and others. They also say that police lathi-charge had taken place twice in the past over land-grabbing disputes. “Why should police visit the interior area of Dharma tanda in the midnight and attack tribals?” asks Govind, a resident of the tanda. The land being used by the tribals here is reportedly the Inam land handed over to them by the former rulers of Donti a few decades ago. Though some parts of the land changed hands twice or thrice, they were still under the control of tribals who have been cultivating them. It’s not clear whether the land has been registered in their name.
‘Identify purchased land’“Let the revenue officials intervene and identify the land purchased by Mr. Praveen Rao so as to relieve tribals of the tension that they are in. We suspect police intentions in attacking the tirbals though,” said A. Mallesh, a CPI (M) leader who visited the village.
However, there is also an allegation that tribals who had already sold their land have been demanding money to surrender the same.
Investigation onWhen contacted, Superintendent of Police S. Chandrasekhar Reddy said that they were investigating the incident.
