Nirmal town on boil
PNS | NIRMAL
Nirmal town continues to be on the boil after clashes between the police and the BJP activists on the second on Sunday. The police made lathicharge on the BJP activists when the latter staged a road blockade at the bus station to protest against the attempts to end the indefinite fast undertaken by BJP leader Aleti Maheswar Reddy to protest against the master plan released by the Nirmal Municipality.
The BJP took up the cudgels against the government on behalf of the farmers who are up in arms against the master plan. The farmers fear that their lands may be acquired in the name of developmental activities if the master plan was finalised. Maheswar Reddy, after the police placed him under house arrest, undertook the fast in his house. His fast entered the fifth day on Sunday.
BJP leaders, including the party national vice-president DK Aruna, visited Nirmal town to call on Maheswar Reddy following the reports that the police were planning to foil the fast undertaken by Maheswar Reddy. The police did not allow Aruna to visit Maheswar Reddy. There ensued heated arguments between Aruna and the police.
The administration deployed the policewomen too as a large number of women activists also staged a protest. The women protests jostled with the policewomen when the latter detained the former.
Additional police forces have been deployed in the town as a precautionary measure. Tension built up. As the condition of Maheswar Redy deteriorates, the district administration may forcibly shift him to hospital to break his fast.
