DGP visit instils confidence among people

Utnoor: Uneasy calm prevailed in Utnoor and surrounding areas in the district on Sunday, the third day after the occurrence of clashes between Lambadas and Adivasis over desecration of Komaram Bheem statue in Bethalguda near here in which several youths were injured and private property was destroyed.

Barring an unconfirmed incident at Rampurguda under Sirikonda mandal where four houses of Lambadas were damaged by Adivasis, the situation in the Agency is by and large peaceful. With prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC still in force, all villages wore a deserted look.

The state government has already transferred several top police officials, holding them accountable for their failure in averting Utnoor riots. As tension continued in the area, Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy himself rushed to the trouble-torn areas on Sunday and supervised security arrangements being made to prevent further break down of law and order.

The DGP, after heli-hopping to Utnoor, Asifabad and Adilabad, hinted at the possibility of Maoist resurgence in the Agency taking advantage of the disturbances caused by the recent flare-up between Adivasis and Lambadas.

Lambadas are unhappy over the demand of the Adivasis for their removal from the list of Scheduled Tribes. Reddy, who reviewed the law and order situation in the Agency with the IG Y Nagi Reddy and other senior officials at Utnoor, was skeptical about outsiders’ hand in the riots. He inspected the business establishments and vehicles that were damaged in the Friday riots.

“The government is closely watching the developments and had taken appropriate measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents,” he said.
Recent developments might be disconcerting to the people, but the government would restore peace within a short time, he said, appealing to the people not to allow outsiders in taking advantage of the situation. There is a possibility of Maoist resurgence if unrest continued in the region for long, he added.

Vishnu S Warrier, who took charge as Adilabad Superintendent of Police from the outgoing SP M Srinivas at Utnoor, said that they had formed a special investigation team to investigate the riots that rocked the Utnoor Agency region.

Additional DGP Anjani Kumar, IGs Y Nagi Reddy, Mahesh Bhagawat, Anil Kumar, DS Chauhan, intelligence IG Naveen Chand and Rachakonda joint commissioner Tarun Joshi have been deputed to oversee the situation in Utnoor and surrounding mandals.