After firing, Chandrababu, Left gun for YSR

Khammam Deaths: Govt announces Rs 6 lakh ex gratia after relatives protest with bodies outside district collectorate

The embers left by Saturday’s police firing which killed six Left activists agitating for land are unlikely to die soon. With the CPI(M), an important ally of the Congress at the Centre, baying for blood, the road ahead may not be smooth for Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Even as Opposition leaders and top Left leaders made a beeline for Mudigonda, the Chief Minister, Home Minister K Jana Reddy and DGP M A Basit chose not to visit the spot. Police officials are understood to have advised them against going to Khammam citing security concerns as the situation in the town continued to be tense. The state Government has meanwhile announced ex gratia of Rs 6 lakh to the families of the victims.

It was a heart rending scene outside the district collectorate in Khammam where draped in one TDP and five CPI(M) flags, the bodies were lined up as the relatives waited for the Government to do justice. It was only at around 4.30 pm, after Collector Sashibushan Kumar reached the site and announced Rs 6 lakh ex gratia to the kin of the deceased, that they allowed the bodies to be taken for post-mortem. Two acres of land, employment and a house to the bereaved families and Rs 50,000 to all those who suffered serious injuries and Rs 10,000 for minor injuries were also announced. He also said that the CI and the SI would be suspended.

Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad, the CM said a judicial inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the circumstances that led to the police firing besides initiating departmental action against the policemen responsible. “Let us try to find a solution to the problem instead of aggravating it. I appeal to all political parties to help restore normalcy,” he said.

Earlier in the day, accompanied by CPI(M) MLA T Veerabhadram and several party leaders, TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu visited Mudigonda. After consoling the locals, the TDP chief addressed them from a jeep and his message was clear: YSR has no right to continue as Chief Minister any longer.

Later, he arrived at the collectorate and consoled the relatives of the deceased. Launching a scathing attack on the Chief Minister, he announced Rs 1 lakh to the bereaved families on behalf of the TDP and Rs 25,000 each to severely injured and Rs 10,000 to those who suffered minor injuries.

Between the two Left parties which have been jointly waging the land struggle over the past two months, the CPI(M) was more belligerent in the aftermath of the Khammam incident. Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri wanted the Congress high command to realise that there was a visible anti-Rajasekhara Reddy mood in the state and it would be detrimental to the state Government if the same situation continued. CPI(M) state secretary B V Raghavulu minced no words and demanded Reddy’s resignation.

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But, CPI state secretary K Narayana felt it was not wise to target one individual though the Government was responsible for the police firing. Moreover, this demand would relegate the main issue of the land struggle to the background, he said.