Coconut vendors grow wary of leaving knives in the open

Yousufguda: Coconut vendors in the city are panic-stricken in the wake of Erragadda incident where a man tried to hack his daughter and son-in-law by picking up the sickle from a coconut stall. They are scared to leave their sickle aside as some miscreants might steal and misuse it.

Venkatesh of Cherapalem village in Paluvula taluka, Kothapet mandal, East Godavari and Srinivas of Kadem Taluka in Rajamahendravaram have been in the business of selling coconuts for 16 years. Both have their stalls at Yadagiri Nagar in Yousufguda. They are seen carefully hiding their knives when not in use and also when their work is done.

They said the Erragadda kind of incident was not new to them as several such incidents happened in the past. “We are very keen on keeping our weapons hidden except when required to break coconuts,” they added. It is not just a case of coconut vendors, those who use weapon-like instruments in their profession are also focusing on their tools.

BY Naveen Yandapalli