Teenmar Mallanna arrested

Warangal: Arepally village reverberated with 'police go back' slogans as the police forced their way into the Pochamma Temple to take 'Teenmar' Mallanna into custody. Mallanna who somehow managed to give the police the slip to reach the village on a bike on Saturday expressed his solidarity with the farmers.

It may be mentioned here that the farmers belonging to 27 villages including Arepally have been protesting for almost a month, opposing the Kakatiya Urban Development Authority (KUDA)'s plan to acquire nearly 22,000 acres under the Land Pooling scheme. Although the KUDA put off the process temporarily, farmers have been demanding the State government to repeal the GO MS No. 80A that entails KUDA to acquire land under the Land Pooling scheme.

Against this backdrop, Mallanna met the farmers at the Gram Sabha and assured them of extending his support to their protest. While Mallanna was speaking to them, the police forced their way into the temple. However, the local women thwarted the efforts of the police by encircling Mallanna. But the police who overpowered them arrested Mallanna and took him away.

Several villagers including women sustained minor injuries in the melee, it's learnt. The locals alleged that the police entered the temple with their shoes which is uncalled for. The police who arrested Mallanna shifted him to Velair police station. Later in the evening, the police let him out.