Andhranews

Eluru, Aug. 21: The police arrested two persons involved in making and circulating fake currency notes on Monday. West Godavari SP M. Jaganmohan Reddy said they arrested G. Balakrishna, 28, and Sheik Basha, 30, of Mysannagudem village of Jangareddigudem mandal.

The SP said that Balakrishna who studied up to Class VII was a farmer. Earlier he lost Rs 2 lakhs in a currency racket. In order to recover from the loss, he started making fake currency notes by roping in his assistant Sheik Basha of Yadavole village of Devarapalli mandal.

The duo went to Vijayawada, bought a computer and other material for making fake notes and started their activity from Mysannagudem. They made notes with denominations of Rs 500, Rs 100 and Rs 50 and managed to circulate nearly Rs 10 lakh worth fake notes in the last four months at Ungutur, Nallajarla, Gopalapuram, Polavaram, Jangareddygudem, Jeelugumilli, T. Narasapuram, Aswaraopeta, Sathupalli, Penuballi, Eluru, Tadepalligudem and others.

They used to offer fake currency in 1:2 ratio to orginal notes to gullible people. The duo used to prepare fake notes by printing original notes on both sides of two sheets and later they used to draw a vertical line on the notes with a print metallic pen similar to the original note, the SP said.

They used shining colours for Rs 500 and Rs 100 denominations to ensure that theywere crisp and shining. Later, they used to keep the note on a wooden platform covered with plastic sheets to emboss Gandhi’s image.

Police seized 140 fake notes of Rs 500 denomination, 650 notes of Rs 100 denomination and 280 pieces of Rs 50. They also recovered fake notes with only one side work done, 50 pieces of Rs 500, 60 pieces of Rs 100 and 55 pieces of Rs 50 denomination.

Anantapur, Aug. 21: The Telugu Desam (TD) had de-cided to launch a sustained struggle demanding crop-loss compensation to each and every farmer to the ext-ent of five acres irrespective of the land owned by him, said the senior leaders of the party here on Monday.

As part of the programme, a dharna was planned in front of the RDO office in Anantapur on August 25 and similar agitational programmes in all the 26 headquarters of constituencies in the district are also planned on August 26.

Addressing a press conference at the district party headquarters, TD’s politburo member Kalva Srinivasulu, district TD president Unnam Hanumantharaya Choudary said that the government is exhibiting indifferent attitude when it comes to the payment of compensation for the crop loss to the farmers.

Mr Srinivasulu reminded that the ministers had time and again promised the farmers before and after the elections that they would ensure crop loss compensation for the farmers who lost crop during the kharif season. However, they conveniently ignored the promises, he alleged.

At the same time, the government had declared that crop-loss compensation would be paid only to the farmers below five acres and evading payment of relief to the farmers, Mr Srinivalu alleged. If the government decides to implement the rule, more than half of the farmers would be deprived of relief, the TD leader said.

Mr Srinivasulu reminded that it was the TD which had introduced the payment of crop-loss compensation and it never deprived the farmers of payment of relief in the name of extent. The district TD president, speaking on the occasion demanded that the government immediately take up cloud-seeding to ensure adequate rain to the drought-hit Anantapur district.

Veldurthi, Aug. 21: People belonging to upper castes allegedly attacked the Dalits at Bukkapuram village in Veldurthi mandal late on Sunday night, for not casting their votes to the Telugu Desam (TD) candidate whom they supported in the recent gram panchayat elections.

According to the police, M. Papireddy is leading the TD, while Shankar Reddy is heading the Congress in Bukkapuram village under Veldurthi mandal.The TD had succeeded in getting Mr Papireddy elected in the MPTC elections. However, the Congress candidate won the sarpanch elections.

Irked over this, the TD leaders including M. Papireddy, Eswar Reddy and 18 others attacked the Dalits late on Sunday night.Two Dalits, Pakkiraiah and Swamulu, suffered minor injuries in the attack and lodged a complaint with the Veldurthi police on Monday.

On receipt of the complaint, Veldurthi SI Degala Prabhakar registered a case against Papireddy, Eswar Reddy and 18 others under SC, ST (Atrocities) Act. However, the TD leaders alleged that it was the Congress workers who attacked their own partymen intentionally and foisting false cases against them.

Nellore, Aug. 21: Displaced fishermen of Krishnapatnam port area are all set to launch an agitation demanding jobs in the port, besides suitable compensation for their lands and buildings.They are also up in arms against port authorities for ignoring the promise to set up a fishing harbour. The fishermen allege that their livelihood was drastically affected because they have no proper place to unload their catch and sell them.

Export of iron ore from the port is also a cause for concern for the fishermen. They allege that iron ore is polluting the fish and the prawn stored in the fishing boats, and they are getting Rs 50 to Rs 100 less than the market price.

Narrating the woes of the fishermen community, Fishermen Welfare Association State president C. Rajagopal alleged that the port company prohibited their entry into the port area and acquired some of their lands located near the port in 2001 on the pretext of developing the port.

Mr Rajagopal said that the authorities never bothered to fulfil the assurances they had given before evacuating them from the area. Referring to the dredging works going on near the mouth of the sea in the Kandaleru creek, Mr Rajagopal said that the fishing boats will not have any entry point into the sea after the port opens for ships, unless an alternative opening into the sea is established for them as promised before.

He demanded that the port company provide jobs to the fishermen who lost their livelihood after their lands located near the harbour were acquired by the port. He also demanded one hectare of cultivable land in lieu of their lands.

He said that fibre boats were not being allowed into the sea because of the ongoing dredging works, demanding alternative arrangements to enable them go for fishing. Mechanised Fishing Boats Operators Association president P. Jeji Naidu said that they would launch a State-wide stir if their demands were not met immediately.

Mr Jeji Naidu said that several fishermen families were ruined after they were displaced from the Krishnapatnam port area. He demanded that the authorities put up sheds to enable them to unload and sell the catch.

Nellore, Aug. 21: A sickening incident at Chittedu village in Kota mandal of the district indicates that social evils and blind faiths remain unaffected in socie-ty, especially in rural areas. A mother lit camphor in the palm of her son and his cla-ssmate, who allegedly stole Rs 100 from her son, to determine who was the culprit.

According to information, Seshadri of Kokkupadu in Kota mandal was staying in the social welfare hostel in Chittedu to pursue Class VIII. He lodged a complaint with warden Penchalaiah on Sunday alleging that someone had stolen Rs 100 from him.

He suspected his classmate Saikumar for the theft. Saikumar made it clear that he had nothing to do with the issue when the warden held an inquiry. The hostel warden explained the incident to Saikumar’s mother when she came to see him on Monday.She took both Saikumar and Seshadri aside, and lit camphor on their palms, assuring them that only the culprit would experience burns.

While Saikumar threw away the camphor, unable to bear the heat, Seshadri tolerated the pain till the end. Seshadri’s palm was damaged badly while Saikumar sustained partial wounds. On hearing about the incident, Seshadri’s mother rushed to the hostel and took her son for treatment to a private hospital at Kota. Dr Sivaji Rao, who treated the student, took strong objection to the incident and lodged a complaint with police.

Nellore, Aug. 21: It is rare that officials go beyond their sphere of operations to help people, even if they have the means and ways to do so.An innovative initiative of collector M. Ravichandra has helped 115 meritorious but poor students, who studied in government schools staying in hostels, to get admission in corporate colleges to pursue Intermediate as well as long-term coaching for Eamcet.

The collector had mobilised funds from philanthropists and also from some NRIs to pay Rs 30 lakhs towards fees for students. Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Ravichandra said that he wanted to establish a direct link between the student and donor to arrest leakages in between. “We will ensure that the donor gets the progress report of the student on a regular basis. I am confident that the bond between them would continue till the student completes his education,” the collector said.

Most students benefiting from the initiative are children of agricultural labourers and their parents were illiterate in most cases. All of them have studied in government schools, according to social welfare deputy director Ramachandra, who said that the collector had convinced corporate educational institutions to give maximum concession to these poor students.

Meanwhile, the district administration is gearing up to form a trust to raise funds for the purpose to make it a continuous process. Besides the collector, who would be chairman of the trust, several philanthropists would be included as members. The trust is likely to be christened Prajwalitha or Collector’s Merit Students’ Welfare Fund.

Gangavaram, Aug. 21: A Dalit woman was electrocuted while another Dalit woman sustained burns when an overhead power transmission line snapped and fell on them at Nellipudi village of this mandal on Sunday night.

According to sources, Gollapalli Jiyyamma, 58, and Sankumalla Chinniyamma, 60, hailing from Nellipudi village under Gangavaram mandal were returning home on Sunday after completing their work in the agricultural fields.

When Chinniyamma was being escorted by Jiyyamma into the house, an overhead power transmission line fell on them. Jiyyamma died on the spot due to electric shock while Chinniyamma sustained burn injuries on her body. She was shifted to Gokavaram for medical treatment.

Eye-witnesses said that an alert Mr G. Kumar rushed to the transformer and switched off the power supply immediately. Villagers found fault with Transco officials for failing to carry out permanent repair works as these lines had snapped some 15 days ago due to heavy gales and incessant rains under the impact of the cyclone.

Warangal, Aug. 21: A four-member team form Centre visited the district on Monday and interacted with the farmers and family members of those farmers who committed suicide.The team headed by Ashok Bhandopadhyay is expected to submit a detailed report to the Central government on the conditions of the farmers and the farming sector in the State.

The team visited Oglapur in Atmakur, Puligilla, Rayaparthy in Parkal mandal, and Chityal and Jukal villages in Chityal mandal. The team comprised, Prof. Sriram, Dr Srijith, and Nabard deputy general manager Patnaik.Based on the report given by the Central team, the Centre is expected to take a decision to extend Vidharbha type package to the farmers in the district to prevent them from committing suicide.

The city-based Sarvodaya Youth Organisation and Hyderabad-based Centre for Economic and Social Studies have coordinated the visit. During their interaction, A. Komura Reddy, a farmer at Puligilla village, explained the members of the team that as the government lending through bankers was difficult to obtain they had to depend on moneylenders and later end up in debt trap.

“The bankers should come forward more willingly to extend loans to the farmers. There should not be any political interference. Continuous drought conditions and the huge debts forced many to commit suicide,” said Cheluka Rajeshwar Rao, a farmer at Rayaparthy village.The farmers wanted the Central team to submit a report that includes protection to them against failure of the monsoon along with the crop insurance.

Nizamabad, Aug. 21: Parents of a girl alleged that a 23-year-old youth, Ramesh, kidnapped their minor daughter, Rajitha to marry her. The incident took place two days ago, but came to light, when the girl’s father K. Shivaram lodged a complaint at Kammarpally police station on Monday.

Kammarpally sub-inspector P. Shivashankar said that both Ramesh and Rajitha, natives of Choutpally village in Kammarpally had fallen in love a year ago. They belonged to different castes. Rajitha studied till Intermediate while Ramesh was working as a barber.

On August 19, the girl failed to return home. Ramesh also was not seen from the same day.The Kammarpally police registered a kidnapping case against Ramesh based on the complaint.

Warangal, Aug. 21: Senior faculty member Dr Digamber Rao of the botany department, Kakatiya University here has received an invitation from the Murdoch University, Australia, to carry out research in the subject.

He will be working in the Rhizobium Centre at the Perth-based university and will carry out research in plant biotechnology and molecular studies. The botany researcher will be there for three months on a special invitation from the university.

The university authorities said that the botany department of the Kakatiya University was the first to get the funds from the University Grants Commission as part of its international exchange programme with foreign universities.

Presently, the university has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Murdoch University to carry out joint research.Dr Digamber Rao is having a total of 24 years of research experience.

Warangal, Aug. 21: A five-member delegation, representing the ex-employees of the Azam Jahi Mills left for Delhi to meet Union textile minister Shankar Singh Waghela to plead with him not to sell the lands of the defunct mills.

The delegation, consisting of R. Krishnamurthy, Kota Sanjeevulu, Mallesham, G. Sharma and Kumar, is expected to meet the minister in a day or two. TRS Members of Parliament B. Vinod Kumar and D. Ravindra Naik have assured them an audience with Mr Waghela.
Surprisingly, senior Congress leader Dr Banda Prakash is also leaving for Delhi to join the delegation.

When contacted, Mr Prakash said that he was totally against the ouster of ex-employees from their staff quarters. “A total of 130 families will be rendered shelter less with the proposed plan to sell away the A.J. Mills lands and the move should not affect the poor ex-employees,” he explained.

He added that if at all the National Textiles Corporation decides to hand over the land to Kakatiya Urban Development Authority for the proposed sale in the open auction, it should exclude the site where the staff quarters were located.

Mydukur, Aug. 21: Leaders of Viswa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh demanded that the police take stern action against the pastors and father of a church, who allegedly burnt the portraits of Hindu gods at Vanipenta in Kadapa district on August 18.

They threatened that they would intensify their agitation if cases were not booked against the Christians. Following a complaint by these leaders, the police registered a case against the Christian pastors and father, said circle-inspector Harinatha Reddy.

The activists led by RSS Zilla Pramukh T Venkateswarlu, district joint secretary B.R. Venkataramana staged a rasta roko at Mydukur on Monday. The leaders alleged that the Christian religious organisations were resorting to religious conversions for the past so many years.

They eyed several Dalitwadas for their religious conversions and as part of it, they organised a meet on August 18 and converted some Hindus into Christians. On the occasion, they reportedly set fire to some portraits of Hindu gods on the premises of the church, they alleged. However, Komara Venkata Ramana, Dumme Pedda Venkanna and G. Venkoji Rao of Vanipenta brought the issue to their notice, the leaders said.

Vijayawada, Aug. 21: The members of State Human Rights Commission on Monday conducted an inquiry into the Munneru rivulet tragedy in which 15 students belonging to Ravindrabharati School of Vijayawada died on November 27, 2005.
The commission that took the suo motu case immediately after the tragedy, conducted a series of inquiries with the eye-witnesses, parents, school management and teachers.

Justice P. Ramakrishnam Raju and Justice E. Ismail, who conducted the inquiry, spoke to the district education officer D. Venkata Subbaiah, school correspondent Veeramachaneni Venkateswara Rao and the parents of all the 15 children who drowned. “We examined 15 witnesses today and would be conducting the final inquiry on September 21 in Hyderabad. We hope to complete the inquiry the same day and the final report would be out by October-end,” said Justice Raju.

The bereaved parents demanded stern action against the school management.
They did not express any interest in the proposal of compensation but wanted justice in the form of closure of the school, besides putting the responsible persons behind bars. “The compensation will not be of any benefit to our families as what we had incurred is an irreparable loss. We hope justice would not be delayed and all those responsible would be punished,” said P.V. Subba Raju, who lost his son P. Jayant Varma. The bereaved families were inconsolable.

Khammam, Aug. 21: The illegal activities of paddy traders in the area have been exposed, thanks to a tiff with the lorry owners. It has been revealed that many traders have been shifting paddy on the sly without paying taxes, thus causing losses to the local agricultural committee market.

Members of the Kalluru Lorry Owners Association blocked a lorry carrying paddy illegally and handed it over to the market officials. The paddy was being shipped from Kalluru by a trader, Manala Veerabhadram, who had not paid the requisite taxes.

Following the seizure of the truck, there were heated arguments between traders and the lorry owners. The lorry owners demanded that the traders show the bills of commercial taxes and market cess they paid. But they failed to do so.Lorry owners also lodged a complaint with market officials, but they did not respond immediately.

At one stage, traders threatened that they would not hire trucks from members of the association.“The market is losing heavily because of their activities,” said Mr N. Kondaiah, a lorry owner. As per the norms, farmers should sell the paddy in the market and traders have to lift it from there, after paying commercial tax and market cess. Instead of doing this, traders have been hiring vehicles and transporting paddy through other routes.

Vijayawada, Aug. 21: The city police have provided elaborate security at the auctioning of an LP Gas dealership here on Monday in the light of allegations that minister Koneru Ranga Rao and the State government special representative in Delhi Mallu Ravi have threatened some of the bidders. The gas dealership at Mylavaram in Krishna district was initially allotted in 1995 to the minister’s youngest daughter, Rajabhansi Devi, who is Dr Ravi’s wife.

However, following a controversy over the allocation of gas dealerships and petrol pump stations, the then government had cancelled the dealership and directed the oil companies to auction it. As the auction was scheduled for August 21, the minister and his son-in-law asked the bidders to withdraw their applications as the agency was initially allotted to them and they wanted to continue as dealers. It is alleged that the minister and Dr Ravi also allegedly threatened the applicants, warning them against participating in the auction.

In the light of these allegations, the police tightened security on the premises where the auction was conducted. The police thoroughly screened the applicants and allowed them into the auction hall. Desireddy Srirama Reddy got the dealership for Rs 1.04 crores in the open auction. Meanwhile, speaking to mediapersons, Mr Ravi denied the allegations and said that they only requested the applicants to withdraw as they already invested heavy amount in the past.

Guntur, Aug 21: A group of HIV positive sex workers in Chilakaluripet have formed an organisation called Vimukthi to save their kids from the dangers of sexual abuse and AIDS. It was recently brought out that about 27 HIV positive women had been forced to remain in flesh trade because of poverty.

Officials and health workers were alarmed at this report since this would heavily undermine their efforts to prevent the spread of the infection. The HIV positive sex workers themselves understood the dangers and this was the motivation for some of them to come together and form Vimukthi.

“We want to save the next generation from this menace,” said a member of Vimukthi. “Our struggle is to get our kids into the mainstream,” she added. Guntur is one of the six districts in the country which has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases. Because of its vulnerability, the United Nations had sanctioned the Coordinated HIV/AIDS Response through Capacity Building project for the district, along with five other places.

Another woman, who is also involved in Vimukthi, said that the organisation would have representatives at the State level as well as in the field. “We have been denied ration cards, voter ID cards and are strangers in our own land,” said another member. “Since we are suffering from abject poverty, our children are compelled to take up the same miserable profession,” she added.

Though this vulnerable group was considered as special category by the State government in 2003, they are yet to receive the promised benefits. They have now approached district collector G. Jayalakshmi, who promised that they would get voter identity cards, ration cards and also house site pattas without delay.

Guntur, Aug. 21: The demand for Chilli 334, known popularly as Guntur Sannalu, has gone up across the country in recent times. However, this has not made farmers in Guntur happy since the variety is not being cultivated much in the district nowadays, despite its name.

Guntur Sannalu or Injanampadu can now be seen more in Ramanathapuram of Tamil Nadu. Cultivation of the variety had gone down in Guntur, since it was considered a ‘third’ quality crop in the market. Pepparica variety cultivated in Karnataka and Kala mirchi grown in West Bengal and the Indo-Nepal border were considered to be first and second qualities.

However, demand for Guntur Sannalu soared recently after pickle companies started using it regularly for the production of Oleoresin, the liquid essence of chilli used as a tastemaker. Oleoresin can be preserved for long and a small quantity is enough to give that zing to pickles and other spicy foodstuff.

Though the demand for the variety had gone up in recent times, the State government has not yet woken up to the fact. Production of Oleoresin is high in Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal, where chilli 334 is in huge demand.

“It is for the State government to encourage farmers to cultivate the 334 variety, keeping in view the rising demand,” said a market expert. Guntur is still a major chill producing area and is a name to reckon with in South Asian markets. Its farmers are now experimenting with hybrid varieties such as Wonder Hot, Delhi Hot, Badiga and Roshini.

Vijayawada, Aug. 21: An upright teenager earned kudos at the State Human Rights Commission hearing on the Munneru Rivulet tragedy, in which 15 students of Ravindrabharati School died.
The student, K. Nagaraju, exposed the attempt made the school management to persuade witnesses to give evidence in their favour.
As proof of their wrongdoing, he handed over a bunch of currency notes amounting Rs 5,000 which he said was given as bribe to him by the management representatives.

The boy told a perturbed Justice P. Ramakrishnam Raju and Justice E. Ismail, “A few people asked me not to narrate what had happened. Two days ago, they took me to a senior politician’s house in Itavaram and tried to convince me again.”

The student said he agreed to their persuasions since they were not allowing him to leave. “Then they put this money in my pocket forcibly,” he added.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 21: With all the medical services, including emergency ones, coming to a halt in the King George Hospital (KGH) following the agitation by staff over the attack on doctor on Sunday, in-patients in the hospital have started to leave the hospital to get treatment in private hospital.

As all the associations and unions of government doctors, junior doctors, nurses, class IV employees served the strike notices to the superintendent on Monday, medical services in the hospital were seriously hit. While the hospital has the capacity to treat 1,037 patients, at present there are 922 patients undergoing treatment in various wards.

A total of 1,500 staff in all the 30 departments have decided to go on strike. Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee of doctors and other staff of the KGH has decided to go on an indefinite strike, until the police arrest the accused in the case of attack on casualty medical officer Dr P. Bangaraiah.

After prolonged discussions held with the director of medical education (DME) I.V. Rao, KGH superintendent Dr G. Ravi Raju and city police commissioner V.S.K. Kaumudi at the hospital, the JAC convener and president of the local chapter of Indian Medical Association(IMA) Dr L.V. Raghava Rao told mediapersons that they would not even allow the private doctors to attend any service in KGH.

He rejected the proposal made by the police commissioner and DME to join the duties immediately, in the larger interests of the patients. Stating that they had lost confidence in the police and hospital administration, he said the accused must be arrested immediately and then only they would join duties.

The JAC also demanded the arrest of the cameraman of a news channel alleging that he had instigated the attack on Bangaraiah. Mr Kaumudi appealed to the doctors and staff of the KGH to join the duties in order to save the lives of patients.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 21: Andhra University(AU) vice-chancellor Prof. L. Venugopala Reddy inaugurated the classes of the five-year integrated MSc course in applied chemistry in the university on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Reddy said that the course was started to produce great scientists to the country to realise the dreams of President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. “The integrated course would help the students in studying the subject in depth and become experts. Students of the first batch of this course should become the future academic leaders and scientists,” said the vice-chancellor. He added that the students should take Sir C.V. Raman and other Nobel laureates as their role models.

The AU would in future introduce five-year MSc programmes in other subjects also, he said.He congratulated the students of the first batch and asked them to work hard and acquire knowledge by using the best infrastructure facilities and faculty.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 21: Janasakthi Mazdoor Sabha (JMS) of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, affiliated to Lok Janasakthi Party, has appealed to the Union minister for steel Ramvilas Paswan to consider transfer of rehabilitation card (R card) to the children of displaced persons.

In the national executive meeting held at New Delhi recently, the JMS secretary V. Srinivasa Rao said land acquisition for the steel plant was taken up in 1970 and many of the displaced persons who were given R cards at that time were not given jobs in the steel plant. Now most of them have attained the age of 50 and above.

He requested the minister to consider transfer of the R cards in favour their children. Among the other demands, Mr Srinivasa Rao has asked for promotion of employees in all categories, filling of posts through internal recruitment process and allotment of quarters in Housing Board Colony to the steel employees on ownership basis.

Pachipenta (Vizianagaram), Aug. 21:District vocational educational officer M. Harinathbabu conducted a probe into the complaint sent to the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell by villagers against the principal of local junior college Vasudeva Rao here on Monday. District collector B. Kishore directed Dr Harinathbabu to hold an inquiry immediately into the allegations.

The complainant alleged that Mr Vasudeva Rao was irregular to his duties, he accepted Rs 1,000 each from candidates for the contract lecturer posts, forcibly collected commission while disbursing boarding and mess charges to second year students and failed to conduct college development council meetings.

Soon after the inquiry, Dr Harinathbabu told reporters that the allegations in the complaint were proved correct and a detailed report would be sent to the collector and commissioner of Board of Intermediate Examinations (BIE). He further said that he would recommend to the commissioner of BIE to transfer lecturers who were working for a long time in the local college immediately. It may recalled here that local MLA P. Rajanna Dora had also complained against the principal to the collector.

Srikakulam, Aug. 21: Maoists seized 60 acres of land from landlords and distributed it among the poor tribals in Tuvvakondalu under Bhamini mandal on Monday. Earlier, they had announced that the lands seized from the rich would be distributed to the poor from August 15.

Kondabaridi dalam secretary Prakash in a release had appealed to the tribals to boycott the Independence Day and hoist black flags on the fields. They seized seven acres of land and gave it to the tribals. The first threatening letter was sent to Sasanapuri Ramanayya that his lands would be seized.

Taking the threat seriously, Ramanayya sold away the lands to a middle class farmer Potnuru Thoudu at the rate of Rs 30,000 per acre. Though the lands were now owned by Thoudu, the Maoists seized all the 60 acres on Monday stopping Ramanayya’s workers from sowing seeds.

The Maoists are planning to seize around 300 acres of land located between Bhamini Shandy to Tuvvakondalu. In 2004, they hoisted their flags but poor farmers did not dare to come forward to till the land.
The following year, the Maoists leaders held meetings with the farmers and convinced them to harvest the crop. This year the entire land was given to them for which no resistance was offered by the landlords of the area.