At least 55 were arrested after violence erupted in Kodangal in the Vikarabad district of Telangana on Monday evening, November 11, when some villagers attacked Vikarabad Collector Prateek Jain and Kodangal Urban Development Authority (KUDA) Special Officer and Deputy Collector K Venkat Reddy when they went to hold a public hearing on the proposed pharma unit.
In a late-night investigation into the attack, around 300 police personnel marched into the village and disconnected electricity and internet services in the area. The police conducted raids in the area to detain suspects who created tensions and attacked government officials.
Kodangal Attack: 55 Detained, Internet Services Disconnected
The tensions occurred during the public hearing outside the Kodangal village in Vikarabad, where some farmers boycotted it with a demand that the programme be held in the village. When the district collector and revenue officials reached the farmers in the village to convince them to attend the meeting, a large number of people who gathered there attacked the cars of the officials. They chased the officials, pelted stones and attacked the officials with sticks. Three cars of the officials were damaged in the melee.
The Telangana government has proposed to start pharma units in Dudyal mandal and needed 1,350 acres of land for the purpose. Since only 156 acres of government land is available, the authorities are trying to acquire the remaining land from farmers in Hakimpet, Polepally and Lagcherla in Dudyal mandal. The Kodangal Assembly segment being represented by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. The main crop in the segment is paddy, which will be cultivated in around 65,000 acres.
The farmers who oppose the acquisition of land for the pharma units recently met BRS working president KT Rama Rao. However, Roa condemned the arrest of villages and demanded immediate release. KT Rama Rao lashed out at the Congress government on X (formerly Twitter): “Arrests will not stop Lagicherla’s struggle. Farmers cannot be silenced by threats. Is this democracy or tyranny? Why are farmers being treated like terrorists and arrested in the dead of night for opposing land acquisition to set up pharma companies?” he questioned.
In a press briefing in Delhi, Rao said Shodha Constructions belongs to Srujan Reddy, the brother-in-law of CM Revanth Reddy, and the company's net profit suddenly increased to Rs. 3.5 crore from Rs. 2.2 crore.
"I want to point out to one company called Shodha Constructions. Directors audited report 2021-22 shows a net profit of Rs. 2.2 crore. It is a very small company which has no qualifications or capital to execute any kind of work. In 2021, this company's net profit was Rs. 3.5 crore... This company belongs to the brother-in-law of CM Revanth Reddy. The brother-in-law's name is Srujan Reddy and this company Shodha Constructions is an unknown entity as far as Telangana and Andhra are concerned," said KT Rama Rao.
"As soon as Revanth Reddy becomes CM, this company magically starts getting a lot of attention and the crony capitalism that Rahul Gandhi keeps talking about, this is a classic example of that... This company is an unknown entity with no qualifications to be able to execute a large quantum of work to the extent of Rs. 1137 crores and has been awarded a package which is humongous for a company of this size," he further stated.
"This came to the fore on March 13, when the Indian Hume Pipe Company wrote a letter to the NSE and BSE...that they have made a joint venture with AMR and Shodha Construction and got a tender of Rs. 1137 crores... In this letter, IHP says, 'the value of the work awarded is Rs. 1137 crore excluding GST and the share of the works executed by IHP is 20% only...' The money is from Govt of India but the Department comes under the CM... The company is of CM's brother-in-law and 80% of the work is awarded to him in the Joint Venture," Reddy said further.