Anantapur, November 02: It seems more like a parody, a la the scary movie, of Ram Gopal Verma’s spine chilling Rakta Charitra. Imagine battle-hardened factionists of Anantapur scurrying for cover to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) after a “counselling” session at a local police station. Hard, eh? Especially after watching blood-curdling scenes in the biopic. Yet that is exactly what is unfolding in the district.
It all started when district superintendent of police MK Sinha figured out that “counselling” could bring back some semblance of sanity to rowdy-sheeters, habitual offenders, land-grabbers, faction leaders and their cohorts.
About a week back, former minister JC Diwakar Reddy’s follower and Youth Congress leader Ravindranath Reddy and his rival Muralidhar Reddy of the Telugu Desam received an invite for a session with Sinha and OSD Kolar Krishna. A few hours later, the duo landed in a hospital with injuries which raised the hackles of Diwakar Reddy who wondered if the police too were in need of “counselling.” Sources said the former minister had been lobbying hard with Chief Minister K Rosaiah to get Sinha shunted out of Anantapur. Matters reached a head recently when a rowdy-sheeter from Bodiyapalle village in Tadipagri mandal, Narasimhulu (35), allegedly committed suicide fearing a tete-e-tete with the cops. Ravindranath Reddy moved the SHRC against Sinha, Kolar Krishna, RSI John Joseph and demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh from them. Taking a serious note of the issue, the SHRC directed DGP K Arvinda Rao to inquire into the incident and submit a report by November 30.
Amidst all this the government appears to be buckling under pressure. A case in point being that of Dharmavaram circle inspector Venugopal Reddy. He has allegedly been transferred to Chittoor district under pressure from local MLA K Venkatrami Reddy. He had been CI in Dharmavaram for just 40 days. In his place was posted B Srinivasulu, a cop from Hindupur. And, believe it or not, he too met with the same fate within four days of his posting!
Within this battle is brewing another battle. While Diwakar Reddy wants the SP transferred, Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy and MP A Venkatrami Reddy are opposing any such move. Sinha on his part remains tight-lipped. When contacted, he declined to comment.
A perfect sequel to Rakta Charitra?
–Agencies