VIJAYAWADA: The pro-Amaravati agitators squatted on the roads in Amaravati on Thursday in protest against alleged police cases registered against 400 farmers.
The agitating farmers snatched a drone camera alleging that police were behaving like peeping Toms and filming women. This led to a mild clash between police and protestors.
Police on Wednesday registered cases against 430 farmers for obstructing officials from conducting a land survey. Pro-Amaravati farmers gheraoed revenue officials who came to conduct a survey to identify land for construction of houses for the poor in Amaravati. They claimed they sacrificed their livelihood for capital Amaravati and said the YSR Congress government had no tight to allot those lands for housing scheme.
Farmers and their supporters squatted on the road on Thursday raising slogans against the government and demanding withdrawal of cases.
The traffic was affected due to the protest. Police led by DSP Y Srinivas Reddy, CI A Srihari Rao and others rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the protestors.
The police started filming of the protest through a drone camera but the farmers objected. They accused the police of using drone cameras to film their women. They further alleged that police turned “peeping Toms” by filming women in bathrooms.
The police refuted the allegations but the protesters entered into heated arguments and snatched the drone camera.
The police asked protesters to return the camera but the latter refused. They continued to insist that police officials were misusing drone cameras to film women.
The police tried to snatch back the camera but the protesters led by Amaravati JAC leader Sudhakar Rao tried to foil the attempt. The police, at last, got back the drone camera. Mr Sudhakar Rao alleged that the police had beaten him and torn his shirt.
Thullur circle inspector A Srihari Rao refuted the allegations that the drone cameras were used for filming women. He said that police would use drones during protests and agitations.
He said that the protest was held on the road at Mandadam in the afternoon and there was no chances of police filming women in bathrooms.
Meanwhile, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu objected to police registering of cases against farmers and demanded that these be withdrawn. On the other hand, the TD formed a fact-finding committee comprising former minister Prathipati Pulla Rao, KS Jawahar and MLA Nimmala Rama Naidu to inquire into the allegations of rude behaviour of police and misuse of drone cameras.
