Srikukam, March 02: K. Parthasarathi, Minister for Secondary and Intermediate Education who is in-charge for Srikakulam, district faced the ire of the villagers on Tuesday when he visited HN Peta, Akashalakkavaram and Vadditandra villages where police opened fire and hurled smoke bombs at agitating mobs, opposing the establishment of power project.
He was greeted with ‘go back, go back’ slogans and his entry into the villages prevented. With the great difficulty, the Minister could meet the family members of Seerapu Yerraiah and J. Nageswara Rao who were killed in police firing. He handed over the cheques worth Rs.5 lakh each to them. Congress MP from Srikakulam Killi Kruparani and district Collector N. Srikanth were also with him.
The Minister assured that the government would construct houses for the villagers of Vadditandra under Indira Avas Yojana as many houses were gutted with the hurling of smoke bombs. “I will appraise the Chief Minister about the issues raised by the locals. The government will certainly look into environmental issues and problems of the villagers. We will also inquire over the imposition of Section 144 without any provocation.”
Meanwhile, Opposition leaders BV Raghavulu, CPI (M) K.Narayana (CPI), Bandaru Dattatreya, Kambhampati Haribabu (both BJP), Bhisetty Babji (Lok Satta) and others visited the villages and interacted with the victims.
A bandh was observed in Srikakulam district to protest against the police firing. It went off peacefully and all opposition parties vied with one another to make it total. Former Minister Tammineni Seetaram demanded that police forces in the villages should be withdrawn immediately. He alleged that the police were trying to scare everyone with their presence in Kakarapalli and surrounding villages even after the killing of two people in police firing.
-Agencies