Telangana: BJP approaches Governor, seeks action against police for beating up irrigation project oustees

The BJP leaders, led by state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, submitted the letter to the Governor requesting her to direct the director general of police (DGP) to inquire and identify the police personnel involved in the alleged beating up of the villagers, and take action against them. They also appealed to the Governor to direct the state government to grant a proper relief and rehabilitation package to the oustees. The BJP leaders also said that the Gouravelli-Gandepalli project has got delayed and urged the government to complete it at the earliest so that farmers under the project receive water for their crops.

“The TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) government is taking revenge on the oustees of the Gouravelli project by unleashing violence on them. What wrong did they do? They were just seeking compensation,’’ Kumar said.

Kumar condemned the alleged police attack on the protesting villagers and called the TRS regime as “authoritarian’’. “Even women and children were not spared by the police,’’ he said.

In the letter to the Governor, the BJP leaders said that more than 500 police personnel swooped on the Gudatipalli village at around 3 am, disconnected the power supply, barged into the houses of the protestors, pulled them out and beat them up.

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“The police roughed up the people without sparing even children, women and old people. They did not follow even the basic norm of deploying women police while arresting women. Many villagers were injured in the police attack and several women fell unconscious,’’ the letter states.

According to the letter, on June 14 (Tuesday), when the villagers were staging a silent and peaceful protest, the police instigated TRS workers against them. Instead of coming to the rescue of peaceful protestors, the police caned them again, injuring many of them.

“Though the villagers made it clear to the government that they were not against the project and all that they wanted was proper compensation, the police did not heed to their appeal and assaulted them indiscriminately. The high court had directed that the trial run of the project should be taken up only after implementing the R and R package for the land evacuees. Even the National Green Tribunal granted a stay on the project works. The state government is conspiring to get the villages vacated using brutal police forces and intimidating the evacuees with lathi-charges, without bothering to pay them rightful compensation,’’ the letter states.

“More than 1,000 evacuees have been fighting for justice for several years. In the meantime, some of the minors have grown into majors and became eligible for compensation. Even the older people have not got their R and R package. Many issues pertaining to land evacuation remain unresolved,” said Kumar.