APTransco officials picked up 18 farmers and labourers from different habitations in this mandal of Ranga Reddy district, adjoining the State capital, and beat them up after raids they conducted late on Friday night and Saturday for pilfering power and not paying electricity dues since 2005.
Two among those picked up by the electricity officials sustained bleeding injuries. One of them, Yadi Reddy, lodged a complaint of assault against the Vigilance officials of Transco following which the Ramgopalpet police registered a case, according to DCP (Central Zone), Hyderabad, P. Hari Kumar. The raids led to tension in the mandal as farmers from Moinabad staged a dharna before the Vigilance wing of APTransco at Buddha Bhavan in Hyderabad, where the arrested were taken. What caused outrage among villagers was the Vigilance officials’ action in picking up family members of those farmers who were not present during the raids.