HYDERABAD: A day after farmers and activists staged a protest and allegedly damaged furniture and property at the ethanol factory construction site in Pedda Dhanwada village of Rajoli mandal in Jogulamba Gadwal district, police arrested 12 persons, including a newspaper editor, on Thursday.
The villagers are of the view that the establishment of ethanol factory would lead to pollution of Thungabhadra river and the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme.
Speaking to TNIE on Thursday, Jogulamba Gadwal Superintendent of Police SP T Srinivasa Rao said: “Based on a complaint filed by the company, we have registered a case against 40 persons. After investigating and verifying the details of those involved in the protest, we have arrested 12 persons. They have been remanded in judicial custody.”
“After destroying the furniture, the accused had taken away the machinery from the factory construction site,” he added.
On Thursday, Rajoli police registered a case under Sections 191(2), 191(3), 329(3), 329(4), 324(5), 126(1), 326(g), 115(2), 118(1), 121(1), 132, 126(2), 109, 61(2), 351(3), 352, r/w 199 of BNS and Section 7 (a) Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 against more than 40 persons, most of them are believed to be farmers.
The complaint was filed by Gayathri Renewable Aline Industries CEO B Manjunath, stating that while they were on duty at 10 am, people from Pedda Dhanwada, Chinna Dhanwada and surrounding villages barged into the premises and damaged the property worth over Rs 20 lakh.
In his complaint, Manjunath said that the accused, who included Jayaram Reddy, Rahaman, Jailor Nagaraju, Kurva Chinnaiah and Dealer Nagaraju, assaulted him and his staff with their bare hands as well as sticks. They also pelted stones and boulders in an attempt to kill us. “We managed to escaped from the place,” he added.
“A huge mob went towards the container room (staff room) and damaged the property and lit fire to the container room by pouring petrol. Further, the mob headed towards Hitachi, Tipper, Car and generator and damaged them,” the complaint read.
When police, after being informed by the staff, reached the spot, the mob pelted stones at them, resulting in a few police personnel, including a woman officer, suffering injuries, it added.
On Thursday, the residents of Ananthavaram village in Balmoor mandal of Nagarkurnool district staged a protest against the land acquisition for the Umamaheshwara lift irrigation project.