The death of a 70-year-old farmer inside the Tahsildar’s office at Penumuru, 30 km from here, on Saturday, created a flutter. The incident occurred in GD Nellore Assembly constituency, represented by Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayanaswamy.
The farmer, Ratnam Boyadu of Raja Indlu hamlet of Ramakrishnapuram panchayat of Penumuru mandal, was said to be fighting for 2.50 acres of land adjoining a reserve forest in the panchayat for five decades.
According to officials, the farmer was issued a ‘one-sal’ (one-year) patta in 1973. During the last five decades, several villagers had reportedly tried to grab the land in alleged connivance with Revenue officials, forcing Ratnam to approach the Revenue and police officials several times.
In 1985, the farmer was said to have obtained a ‘permanent injunction’ order from the Andhra Pradesh High Court and kept trying to secure possession of the land by approaching Revenue officials several times.
Some villagers had reportedly encroached upon a portion of the land, while a couple of government structures too had come up there.
Against this backdrop, the farmer, who underwent cardiac surgery recently, visited the Tehsildar’s office at Penumuru mandal headquarters on Friday late in the evening and stayed put there, while the efforts of the family members to take him home went futile.
On Saturday evening, when the office staff was about to leave the premises, Ratnam who looked exhausted tried to renew his appeal. In a fit of desperation, the farmer had reportedly shouted at the officials at a high pitch, forcing the staff to pacify him. But, all of a sudden Ratnam collapsed and was declared brought dead at the area hospital late in the evening. The incident immediately sparked tension in the rural side of Penumuru mandal.
On Sunday morning, the activists of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) along with elders of the deceased farmer’s community staged a protest in front of the Tahsildar’s office and conducted a road blockade nearby.
Deputy SP (Law and Order) N. Sudhakar Reddy and District Revenue Officer (DRO) N. Rajasekhar rushed to Penumuru and pacified the agitators.
Addressing the media at Penumuru, Mr. Rajasekhar said that the Collector had given an assurance to Ratnam’s family members about providing them a patta land and ex-gratia to the next of kin.
“As the land claimed by Ratnam is a forest fringe location, there is some confusion regarding its processing. In the last several years, the farmer was also misguided by vested interests over the issue. The Collector will meet the family members in Chittoor on Monday to further proceed on their demands,” he said.
Meanwhile, police force was deployed in some sensitive areas of Penumuru mandal to prevent any untoward incident. Ratnam’s body reached his village from the district hospital after a post-mortem on Sunday evening and was cremated.
