Upset with land grabber, man sets himself on fire in Ongole

Ongole: Thatikonda Venkata Ramanaiah, 70, a poor man from Singarayakonda, who claims to be suffering from a land grabber for nearly 20 years, tried to set himself ablaze at the Collectorate in Ongole on Monday, while attending Spandana, a grievance redressal programme by the government.

As per the details provided by the family of old man, Ramanaiah worked as a weaver for a long time and bought a piece of land in Bhairagimanyam at Singarayakonda about 20 years ago and constructed a shed with two rooms for living. But since then, a man by the name Bhagavan Das from Kavali claims the land of his own and threatens the family to vacate the house immediately. The family claims that they have made several complaints to the police, filed a suit in Kandukur court but there is no use. They said that the alleged land grabber threatens them of attacks and sends thieves to loot their home when they are not in the house. The sellers of the land claims no responsibility as it is their problem and they have nothing to do with it.

Claiming fed up of the problem and the regular torture by Bhagavan Das, Venkata Ramanaiah poured petrol, which he brought with him, in the Collectorate and demanded justice for his kin at least after his death. The onlookers and police staff rescued him and poured water on the old man. Police shifted him to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment assuring that his plea will be taken to the notice of the Collector.

It may be recalled last week, a former MPTC of Pullaripalem in Vetapalem mandal, Koduri Venkateswarlu tried to commit suicide by consuming pesticide, alleging failure of district administration in saving him from the harassment of former Chirala MLA Amanchi Krishna Mohan.