Lagacharla episode: BJP MP seeks intervention of NHRC

Hyderabad: Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) alleging, “A horrendous violence that the police of Telangana unleashed against the innocent villagers of Lagacharla village of Vikarabad district of Telangana, and the tribals of the surrounding hamlet during the last eight days.”

In a letter to the NHRC on Tuesday, he said an unfortunate incident occurred on November 11, when the officials of Vikarabad district went to Lagacharla village to conduct a hearing on the concerns of farmers regarding the establishment of a pharma company. Incidentally, Lagacharla village comes under the Kodangal assembly constituency, represented by the Chief Minister of Telangana, A. Revanth Reddy. “The villagers of Lagacharla have been agitating against the forceful acquisition of their farmlands for the last eight months,” he wrote.

On the day of the hearing, the MP said in his letter that the villagers had refused to participate in the hearing, and they didn't go to the venue. “When the officials approached the reluctant farmers, ‘perhaps, they may have expressed their anger’. However, taking umbrage under an unfortunate incident, the police have been registering cases indiscriminately. They swooped on the village on the intervening night of 11-12 November and reportedly whisked away many villagers. In this process, the villagers reported that the police had abused them physically and verbally and used all sorts of violent methods. It is reported that villagers who were arrested had been subjected to insurmountable custodial torture, including but not limited to the use of third-degree methods,” the MP wrote.