CM orders judicial probe into Mudigonda police firing

Hyderabad, July 28: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S RajasekharaReddy today ordered a judicial inquiry into the police firing inMudigonda village of Khammam district, which claimed eight lives,during the state-wide Bandh called by the Left parties. The Chief Minister, who reviewed the situation at a high-levelmeeting here, also ordered shifting of the Khammam DistrictSuperintendent of Police R K Meena and suspension of AdditionalSuperintendent of Police Ramesh Babu.

Dr Reddy also ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident atMudigonda amid charges by the CPI(M) that the incident was''premeditated'' and by the local police, to settle scores with thelocal Left party activists.

Even as the CPI(M) Politburo, at its meeting in New Delhi, condemnedthe brutal firing in Mudigonda village against 'peaceful' Left partyprotestors, in which a woman and student were killed, the local partyunit has called for a bandh in Khammam district tomorrow. The ChiefMinister, who had yesterday instructed the state police to observerestraint during the 24-hour bandh, was seriously considered at theMudigonda incident.

As politburo member Sitaram Yechury is reching Hyderabad to visitMudigonda and Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu has alsojumped into the fray, the Chief Minister reiterated his appeal to theLeft parties to withdraw the land stir and sought their cooperation inmaintaining law and order.

Terming as ''unfortunate'' the Mudigonda incident, he reminded theopposition that they too had a responsibility to observe restraint andcheck any influx of anti-social elements in their stir.

when the Government itself was committed to distribution of landand houses to all the poor people in the state, he wondered what wasthe need for an agitation.

Mr Reddy said even at the height of provocation by left parties'activists over the last three months for land distribution, police hadobserved maximum restraint even when chilli powder was thrown on them.He said police in Mudigonda had to face violence from the activists andone of the police Inspectors had sustained a head injury. However, theJudicial inquiry ordered by the Government would go into the wholeissue and the Government would not not hestitate to take ''harshestaction against those found guilty''.

''The police had intially resorted to lathicharge and when thesituation went out of control opened fire in which eight persons werekilled'', the Chief Minister said.

The Government had instructed the police to observe restraint andhad also withdrawn a number of buses in areas which were prone forviolence. ''We have been able to control the situation all over thestate, barring Mudigonda'', he added.

UNI