Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy today demanded that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao tender an unconditional apology for atrocities and brutality shown by police on SCs, ST and BCs of Nerella of Thangalappaly mandal in Rajanna-Sircilla district.
In an open letter sent to the Chief Minister on Sunday, Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the police resorted to “Barbaric brutality” on Dalits and “KCR’s deafening silence is shocking”. He said that the Chief Minister should tender an unconditional apology for the incident.
“Coming soon after the handcuffing of Tribal framers in Khammam, this barbaric third degree torture of Dalits in police custody in Sircilla indicates that Dalits and Tribals have no protection of their human rights in “Bangaru Telangana”. Why were the Dalits kept in illegal custody for 5 days before they were produced before concerned magistrate? Your son and IT Minister K T Rama Rao is the MLA from Sircilla district. It is possible that the Dalits were taken into illegal custody and tortured for 5 days without the notice of KT Rama Rao? Whose instructions were the local SP and police officers were following?” he asked.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also alleged that the SP and the local police officers might be on the payrolls of local sand mafia to protect their interests. “Who is running the local sand mafia? Allegations are that they are your party leaders and some are your relatives. KTR Tweets about everything in this world. But why is he silent on this horrific torture on poor Dalits?” he asked. Further, he said that the Chief Minister’s total silence on the issue has shocked the Dalit community.
“The villagers were subjected to unruly behavior, uncivilized abuses, indiscriminate beatings, intimidation and other mistreatment. They were punished by the local police officers in an inhuman way just because they tried to hold protest against the sand mafia,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the abuses of police in the name of caste followed by physical torture by Superintendent of Police Vishwajit Kampati, SIs Ravi and Venakta Krishna and 17 other constables could not be explained and entire civilized society has been condemning the same. “The local residents were subjected to torture and humiliation when they tried to hold protest against the movement of hundreds of lorries illegally carrying sand which killed and maimed several people and injured many others in the recent past,” he said.
The TPCC Chief said that the police took no action in the past on repeated complaints by the villagers about the illegal movement of lorries and other vehicles in their area by the sand mafia which was causing many accidents. In the present incident/ accident one Bhomaiah, who belongs to ST (Errukala) Community, died on the spot. Related to this accident there was a spontaneous reaction from general public from road side villages and that resulted into some commotion and untoward incidents of burning of sand transporting vehicle by mob. It was not deliberate or organized attempt and it cannot be treated as a law and order problem,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the police registered fake cases against the villagers, took them into custody on July 4 and tortured them for almost five days before producing them before a court. “During their illegal detention in police station, they were beaten, abused and threatened by the SP and other police officers in the name of their caste and community. The Superintendent of Police has reportedly gone to an extent of saying that he would implicate their women in brothel cases. The language used by police cannot be explained in any language which puts any common and civilized man to shame and below human dignity,” he said.
Giving complete details about the case in his letter, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the police did follow the guidelines of Supreme Court of India in case of arrest and detention. “The entire village is under panic and fear of life and liberty. It is not an exaggeration to say that the youth between 18 to 40 years have not returned to village till date due to fear of police and their torture and implication is false cases,” he said.
The TPCC chief demanded that the State Government order a probe into the incident through a sitting judge of High Court. Further, he said all police personnel responsible for this should be immediately suspended and a case under Section 307, SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act and other relevant sections should be booked against them. The State Government should also withdraw all the cases registered against them. “The government should also take action against the sand mafia which is active in Rajanna-Sircilla and other districts. Action should also be taken against their political bosses,” he demanded. (NSS)
Uttam asks KCR to apologize for police brutality on Dalits in Sircilla
