BALLARI: An IIT graduate, who dreamt of becoming a farmer, is hounded by his neighbours. They burnt his car allegedly with an intention to force him to allow his land to be used as a passage for their illegal activities.
Narayan from Bhatri village on the outskirts of Ballari city, is an IIT gradutate, who passed out of the prestigious institute in 1991. After a stint of business in manufacturing special purpose machines, he decided to return to his native village and take up organic farming.
He began organic farming on his 18 acre land with his own concept. As he was not using any chemical, he needed to plant more trees around and inside his farm. When he started doing this, the trouble started for him as some of his neighbours started objecting to it. The place had been a haven for late night parties and other illegal activities, and it was also used as a path to reach some other areas.
He said: “Many people would find this plain vacant land as an invitation for their activities. This was the first thing I did to stop all these.”
When the techie-turned-farmer did not yield to it on Monday morning, Narayana had a shock when a car which he had left in his farm started burning.
“I went to the Ballari rural police station and lodged a complaint. The complaint refers to a Nagashekara Reddy, who happens to be the neighbour of Narayana. The senior police officers visited the spot and conducted an inspection. Further investigation is on.