VIZIANAGARAM: Tension prevailed at the Collectorate on Thursday when the police lathi-charged students protesting for the release of pending fee reimbursement bills, scholarships and improvement of amenities at the Social Welfare hostels. About 3,000 students, led by the Student Federation of India (SFI), staged a rally and protested in front of the Collectorate in Vizianagaram.
The police prevented the mob from entering the Collectorate to meet District Collector Hari Jawaharlal. As the Collector was busy in a review meeting, District Revenue Officer (DRO) Jallepalli Venkata Rao came to the spot where the students were staging a protest and spoke to the agitators on the Collector’s behalf.
Not willing to speak with the DRO, the students demanded the Collector to come out to hear them out. They decided that they would not move from the spot until the Collector spoke to them. At one moment, the students even tried to break into the Collectorate. To control the situation, the police rained lathis on the protesting students in a bid to disperse them. During the lathi-charge, several students, particularly girls, sustained injuries.
To control the situation, the police began caning the students in order to disperse them. When the police tried to shift the students’ union leaders to the police station by truck, the protestors pelted stones on the vehicle. During the lathicharge, several students, particularly girl students, sustained mild injuries.
Police shifted the students to the nearby police station and they were released later.
When contacted, Vizianagaram traffic DSP L Mohana Rao said, “As the situation seemed to be going out of control, we used lathis to disperse the protestors from entering the Collectorate.” He also said that they did not lathi-charge but only tried to disperse the protestors from the spot.
Cops did not lathi-charge students, says SP
Vizianagaram: perintendent of Police B Raja Kumari said the students were not lathi-charge at the Collectorate, where the students staged a protest. In a release from the SP’s office on Thursday evening after the issue became viral in media, including social media, she said the police did not even carry lathis to the spot. As part of protest, the students, supported by Students’ Federation of India, had blocked the main road in front of the Collectorate. As vehicular traffic was stalled, the police, as a part of preventive arrest, tried to shift the students’ leaders to the police station. Some people started pelting stones on the vehicle ferrying students to the police station. On the other hand, someone tried to break into the Collectorate by jumping the compound wall