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Deccan Herald » National » Detailed Story
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7 AP lawmakers booked
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DH News Service
Hyderabad:
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A protest seeking relief for those affected by an irrigation project and a rasta roko against the demolition of a Masjid wall for widening a road, turned violent.
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Cases have been registered against seven lawmakers from Andhra Pradesh for taking law into their hands.
One legislator has been arrested, while five other MLAs and an MP were booked in two different cases in the last two days.
All the six lawmakers belong to the Opposition parties. While K Lakshmana Murthy, CPM MLA of Nagur in Vizianagaram district, has been arrested, the Sangareddy police in Medak district have registered cases against five MLAs and an MP belonging to the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM).
In the first instance, the legislator has been charged with instigating people, while in the second instance, they have been charged with obstructing officials from discharging their duties and disrupting traffic on a national highway. In both instances, the elected representatives were allegedly involved in violence.
In Vizianagaram case, Murthy led a protest organised by the CPM demanding compensation for people displaced by the Thotapally irrigation project. The agitators wanted the compensation to be increased and rehabilitation to be completed before the construction was taken up. Spillway works have been taken up which the agitators obstructed, demanding doubling of the compensation.
The agitation became violent and a battle ensued with the police in which about 40 policemen were injured in stone pelting. The police first used lathis but when that proved ineffective, they opened fire in which about 45 people were injured. The project covers an ayacut of 1.2 lakh acres and the government is acquiring about 11,000 acres for which it has set aside Rs 89.72 crore as compensation, according to official sources here. The project is expected to be completed in three to five years.
In the other incident near Patancheru, 40 km from Hyderabad, people were agitated over the demolition of a masjid wall for road-widening. They attacked the workers who fled the scene. The Majlis leaders organised a rasta roko on national highway 9 which held up traffic for eight hours. The people were so worked up that police kept a distance.
The administration finally agreed to stop the demolition and even rebuilt the wall. But not before the Majlis leaders used abusive language and threatened senior officers including the Collector and the Joint Collector.
The district administration has pointed out that two temples had been moved to alternative sites and the idols shifted. The compensation amount for the relocation of the masjid had been deposited with revenue authorities.The masjid too would have been moved had politicians not entered the scene and indulged in one upmanship, according to official sources.
The situation is getting complicated with temple supporters now demanding to move back the temples to the earlier sites.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2005
