KAKINADA: The police on Thursday arrested 10 persons in connection with lynching of a Dalit in Singampalli village panchayat of East Godavari district on Wednesday. Peddapuram DSP Ch V Rama Rao said the arrested included Kadiyam Nageswara Rao and M Ramakrishna, lessees of the mango orchard from which the fruits were allegedly plucked by the Dalit leading to his lynching. Seven staffers of the Panchayat Department were also among the arrested. A case was registered against them under the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Tension prevailed for some time at the Government General Hospital here on Thursday morning when Dalit organisations along with Left parties tried to stage a protest at the Collectorate with the body of Bikki Srinivas (30) of G Mamidada in Pedapudi mandal, who was lynched.
With the deployment of additional force at the Collectorate expecting trouble, they changed their plan. Later, the body of Srinivas was handed over to his family members at Mamidada. A postmortem was conducted on the body at the Government General Hospital in Kakinada.The registration of a case against the culprits under the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and announcement of an ex gratia of `4.25 lakh for the victim’s family by the district administration had made the Dalit organisations give up the protest against the lynching.
On Wednesday, Srinivas allegedly stole mangoes from an orchard in the village and was caught by the lessee and others. He was thrashed to death and later his body was hanged from the ceiling in the panchayat office building to project it as a suicide.
The incident created furore and a large number of people from nearby villages and Dalit leaders, including former MP GV Harsha Kumar, staged a protest in Singampalli demanding arrest of the culprits.
It was alleged that some mango cultivators resorted to killing the Dalit to frighten mischievous elements who steal the fruit from orchards. Later in the day, Rangampeta tahsildar M Indira Gandhi handed over a cheque for `4.25 lakh to the victim’s family as an ex gratia.