Andhra firing: Ex gratia announced, TDP guns for CM

Khammam (Andhra Pradesh): Khammam in Andhra Pradesh continued to be on the boil as Left activists held a demonstration to protest police firing on Saturday killing at eight people and injuring 19 others.

The bodies of six victims, wrapped in red flags, were kept on a platform near the district collectorate complex, with wailing relatives sitting by their side.

Hundreds of supporters of CPI-M and CPI gathered there raised slogans against the Congress government and demanded justice.

A large posse of policemen stood guard to prevent any untoward incident while thousands of Left supporters from neighbouring districts were prevented from entering the town in view of the tense situation.

As the incident sent shock waves across the state, the main opposition TDP demanded resignation of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy owning moral responsibility for the police firing.

“The Chief Minister is responsible for this brutal firing incident. He should step down,” TDP supremo and former Chief MInister N Chandrababu Naidu said.

However, Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary on Sunday spat fire at Naidu for what she claimed was his effort to turn the Khammam situation into a political blame game.

“Chandrababu Naidu is talking of failure of law and order? His own Home Minister had died in a bomb blast. What happened to the law and order then?” Chowdhary asked.

Taking a stock of the situation, Reddy announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to nearest kin of the dead, Rs 50,000 to those who are seriously injured and Rs 10,000 to those with minor injuries.

The Chief Minister has also announced government job to the nearest kin of those killed in the police firing.

Leader of the Opposition, Chandrababu Naidu, too has said that Rs 1 lakh each will be given to the victims of the incident.

The two-month long struggle by Left parties, demanding land distribution for the poor, took a violent turn during the state-wide shutdown on Saturday when police opened fire at a mob near Mudigonda village, about 10 kms from Khammam.

The state government has already ordered judicial probe into the incident, transferred the Khammam district superintendent of police R K Meena and suspended additional SP Ramesh Babu.