Kodangal attack: Lagacherla under thick security cover, internet disconnected

A heavy security blanket thrown over the village to prevent further untoward incidents after Monday's attack on District Collector Prateek Jain and other officials. Internet services were also disconnected, while 55 villagers were taken into custody.

Vikarabad: An uneasy calm prevailed in Lagacherla village under Dudyala mandal in Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s Kodangal constituency on Tuesday with a heavy security blanket thrown over the village to prevent further untoward incidents after Monday’s attack on District Collector Prateek Jain and other officials. Internet services were also disconnected, while 55 villagers were taken into custody.

There were reports that about 40 of them were released later on Tuesday. Last night, a heavy police force of about 300 personnel from Mahabubnagar and Narayanpet was deployed in Lagacherla and neighbouring villages.

---

The arrest of villagers by the police in connection with the attack on the Collector Jain and KADA Special Officer Venkat Reddy in protest against the government’s plans to acquire lands for a pharma village triggered a sense of unrest. Armed with canes, the police personnel moved around all the roads and fields in the village.

Media persons, who wanted to report on the prevailing situation in the village were also denied permission to enter the village and speak to residents, according to reports.

Sensing trouble in the wake of heavy police deployment, internet services were disconnected in a few villages under Dudyala, Kodangal and Bomraspet mandals in the constituency. Meanwhile, sporting black badges, employees, especially revenue department staff staged protest in front of the Vikarabad IDOC.

Extending solidarity to them, the Joint Action Committee of Telangana Employees, Gazetted Officers, Teachers, Workers and Pensioners approached the DGP and wanted him to initiate immediate and decisive action to apprehend all those responsible for the violence.

“Your prompt and resolute action in response to this incident will not only allay the fears but also boost the morale and confidence of public servants in the State,” JAC Secretary General E Sreenivasa Rao said in the representation submitted to the DGP.