KAKINADA: Additional forces, including Greyhounds personnel, were rushed to Srungavaram Agraharam village in Rowthulapudi mandal of East Godavari district, where nearly 25 SC families have been facing social boycott for the past five days.
Amid heightened tensions between SCs and BCs, the two-day Gangamma Jatara began in the village on Wednesday. “We fear that the simmering tensions between the two groups may escalate and even one group may target the other during the festivities. Greyhounds personnel were rushed to S Agraharam apart from a posse of over 100-policemen which was already deployed in the village,” a police official said. A tight vigil was kept in the village to thwart any untoward incident. The festivities on the first day of Jatara concluded on a peaceful note.
Meanwhile, the SC families alleged that the revenue officials stopped providing them food on Wednesday. However, Rowthulapudi tahsildar Abbas maintained that they supplied rice and other commodities to the SC families and they prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner on their own.