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Clash over fish pond revenue; one dead
Pattikollalanka, a Kolleru lake bed village in Eluru rural mandal, is on the boil with the clash between two groups culminating in the killing of a person in the early hours of Friday. Eluru Mandal Executive Magistrate issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC, and the police had taken 40 people into custody.
Eluru: Pattikollalanka, a Kolleru lake bed village in Eluru rural mandal, is on the boil with the clash between two groups culminating in the killing of a person in the early hours of Friday. Eluru Mandal Executive Magistrate issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC, and the police had taken 40 people into custody.
The violent incident is a result of brewing tensions between the groups for the last two years over the utilisation of fish tanks in the village. The arrival of former sarpanch Ghantasala Mahalakshmi Raju, who is at centre of the dispute, in the village two days ago from Eluru triggered the fresh clashes. In fact, Raju is residing in Eluru sensing trouble for some time now.
His wife Mahalakshmi is the sarpanch of the village. Upon seeing Raju, his charged up supporters in fully-drunk state abused the rival group. The other group, in retaliation, attacked Raju’s brother Harikrishna with knives, rods, and sticks. He was chased till SC Colony. The residents of SC Colony tried to pacify the attackers but to no avail.
The attackers roughed up those who came in their way. In the process, one Mungara Kondalu (58) died on the spot, and Harikrishna was severely injured among others. The injured were shifted to Eluru Government Hospital, and Harikrishna’s condition is said to be serious. The dispute began during Mahalakshmi Raju’s term as president in 2013.
The village distributed the income generated from fish ponds, spread over 1,000 acres, among themselves peacefully until Raju ‘created’ problems in sharing the money. He is accused of siphoning off the said money on the pretext of partying it with some local leaders. When villagers had confronted him on the issue, he lodged a complaint with the forest department that fish cultivation was being carried out illegally in about 356 acres of forest land.
This resulted in frequent raids of forest officials, who seized the fish ready to catch. The villagers also sat on a hunger strike for about two months, demanding the officials to allow them to catch the fish. Speaking to The Hans India, Eluru DSP G Venkateswara Rao informed that around 30 police personnel were deployed in the village to bring situation back to normalcy. He affirmed that situation was under control.
