Jayashankar Bhupalpally: The land dispute among the brothers of a tribal family has led to the brutal murder of the elder brother and his two sons at Gangaram village of Kataram mandal in the district on Saturday. One more family member sustained injuries in the same incident that happened in broad daylight which created a sensation in the district. The deceased persons were identified as Lavudya Manju Naik (70), his sons Saraiah (45) and Bhaskar (35). The injured person is another son Lavudya Sammaiah.
Dispute over the ownership of six acres of the land among Manju Naik and his two younger brothers, Mahankali and Sammaih, has led to the murders. According to the sources and kin of the victims, around ten people including women had attacked Manju Naik and his three sons when they had gone to the disputed land. “My father Sammaiah said that the family members of Mahankali and Sammaiah had attacked my father, uncles and my grandfather with axes, knives, acid and sticks after sprinkling chilli powder in their eyes. While my grandfather and uncles succumbed to the injuries on the spot. My father escaped with injuries on his leg and head. He got six sutures on his head. It is a preplanned murder,” said Manju Naik’s grandson speaking to the media.
He also added that they had got court judgment in their favour over the six acres of the land and tried to cultivate the land. “But the family members of my grandfather’s younger brothers were trying to obstruct us. Following this, we also approached the Tahsildar, Kataram, Sunitha to issue the pattadar passbook to us since the court gave judgment in favour of us. But she delayed the issuance of the passbook. On the other hand, we also went to the police station and complained that they were trying to attack and kill us, but the police have not taken any action in this regard,” he said. When contacted, Kataram DSP Bonala Kishan did not respond.
DSP Bonala Kishan, CI Hathiram and SI Sambamurthy have reached the spot and shifted the bodies to Mahadevpur Community Health Centre (CHC) for postmortem. Meanwhile, ASP V Srinivasulu, who also visited the spot, told the media the land disputes were behind the murder of three persons and added that they would soon nab the culprits and ensure that such brutal incidents would not repeat. A pall of gloom descended on the village as the three members of a family were killed in the incident. Police have set a camp in the village to contain the further escalation of the violence.
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