WARANGAL: The state government has finally acted in the Nerella incident, which was the subject of a major controversy, by suspending an inspector, holding him responsible for using excessive force against the villagers. Following the report submitted by Karimnagar range DIG Ravi Varma, North Zone IG Nagi Reddy issued orders on Thursday suspending Sircilla CCS inspector B. Ravinder.
On July 2, a sand-laden lorry hit and killed a local man B. Bhudaiah of Nerella village. This was the sixth death caused by lorries transporting sand from a local quarry. The death triggered a massive protest in which four lorries were set ablaze. The locals alleged that the police picked up eight men from their homes in Nerella, Jillella and Ramachandrapuram. They were not arrested but taken to an isolated place and subjected to torture for two days that left them with severe injuries.
Complaints on SP, 18 Cops
Villagers had been opposing the plying of lorries carrying sand and had wanted them to take another route from the nearby quarry which reportedly belongs to a close relative of minister K.T. Rama Rao.
The families of the eight youths who were allegedly tortured complained to DGP Anurag Sharma. Rights organisations and political parties had demanded against Rajanna Sircilla district SP Vish-wajit Kampati, Ravinder and 18 police personnel.
An inquiry was initiated and the result has been the suspension of just one policeman. Minister K.T. Rama Rao tweeted: “as promised, the inspector who was found to have used excessive force according to the DIG’s report has been suspended”.
