Villagers of Ladnapur damage 200 lorries after Sarpanch's death

Peddapalli: Villagers of Ladnapur smashed window panes of some 200 lorries plying on the road near Ladnapur village in Ramagiri mandal following the death of Eluvaka Rajaiah, a sarpanch belonging to the Congress. He was hit by a sand-laden lorry in the village on Sunday evening.

Rajaiah, 60, was the Upa Sarpanch of Adivarampeta village. Tension prevailed in Ladnapur following the death of Rajaiah. The irate villagers staged a “rasta roko” claiming that Rajaiah's death was a planned murder and a political conspiracy as he had strongly opposed the illegal sand mining.

Traffic came to halt on at least 10-km stretch on both sides of Ladnapur village after the acctack on vehicles by mobs. The villagers demanded that the state government pay a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the family members of the deceased and provide them government jobs.       

The lorry involved in the road accident had a poster pasted on it which read ‘Telangana Government Annaram Barrage’.

There was a mass agitation against the illegal sand mining in the area in the past over deaths of villagers of Nerella after being hit by sand-laden trucks. In one incident, villagers had attacked sand lorries following the death of one man.

Following this, person had arrested a few Dalits and allegedly tortured them. Members of the SC/ST Commission had visited the Nerella over the incident, as did Congress member Meira Kumari, then presidential poll contestant.