Archaeology staff thrashed while relocating artefact

Warangal: In an appalling incident, staff of the State Archaeology Department was thrashed while they were relocating a Kakatiya period artefact to a museum near Warangal Fort. According to the sources, the thugs, who were in an inebriated state, allegedly belonged to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

The archaeology department spotted the Kakatiya era stone water tub with a length of about nine metres lying in a state of neglect on a private land beside Talla Padmavati College near Ursugutta in Warangal in 1970 and recorded it. 

However, for the reasons unknown it remained there all these years, without being shifted to the museum. Recently, archaeology officials decided to shift it to the museum and District Collector Amrapali Kata approved the shifting duly providing required funding. 

On Thursday night five cranes, one excavator and a heavy load truck were hired for shifting. As the men were at work a gang of about 30 persons claiming to be followers of local ruling party legislators questioned the workers at whose order they were shifting the tub. 

When the officials and the workers told them that they have orders from the District Collector and the archaeology department, the locals who were fully drunk cautioned them they could not move the tub without obtaining the permission from their leader. 

It led to heated discussions between them. Then the locals beat up the officials and the drivers of the cranes. Archaeology department senior assistant Ramesh, foreman Subash, assistant engineer at KUDA, Bharath and District Tourism consultant P Aravind and others sustained injuries in the attack. 

It was said that the victims even contacted Mills Colony police, but they reached the spot only after half-an-hour. Mills Colony Inspector Nandiram Naik said that they cannot register any case in this regard as no one lodged a complainant. 

Meanwhile, the assistant director of Archaeology G Ganga Devi, while speaking to the media, said that they would lodge an official complaint with the local police on Saturday seeking punishment for the assailants for beating up on-duty officials.

On Friday, the issue was taken to the notice of the District Collector and Commissioner of Police and the ancient tub reportedly used to feed the cattle was shifted to the museum in Warangal Fort amid police security.