Tension prevailed for several hours at Ootla and Rallakatwa villages in Jinnaram mandal of Sangareddy district on Saturday when villagers turned violent during the public hearing on the proposed establishment of stone crushers in these villages.
According to sources, the officials arranged for public hearing in these villages on the proposal for establishment of stone crushers. For long, villagers had been opposing stone crushers. As several villagers turned violent the police resorted to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control.
At first, Additional Collector B. Veera Reddy and Revenue Divisional Officer M. Nagesh reached Rallakatwa village and conducted public hearing amidst protest by villagers. Then they proceeded to Ootla village.
The agitating villagers, hundreds in numbers, arrived at the tent and raised slogans against the government and officials, demanding that permission not be accorded for stone crushers. At Ootla village, even while officials were settling on the stage, the agitators tried to remove the tents and threw away the chairs. Despite repeated appeals by officials that they were there to hear the voice of villagers, the agitators continued their protest. Suspecting that the tent may collapse the officials came out of it for a safer place. There was a melee between the police and agitators for some time. To control the agitating villagers police used lathi-charge. At one point the tent collapsed.
Both Additional Collector and RDO left the venue as situation could not be controlled and villagers were not in a mood to hear anyone.
The villagers made it clear that they did not want establishment of crushers in their village.
