Stop encroaching people's land: Congress

Karimnagar: Without any notices or information, officials under political influence demolished the houses of poor people who had been living in Rekurthi Nagar of the 19th division for the past 30 years, said Congress city president K. Narendar Reddy, who was extending his support to the dharna staged by residents at Ambedkar centre in Rekurthi village of Karimnagar on Thursday.

Several impoverished people from the Muslim minority built the houses 30 years ago with permission from the village panchayat and were living in the colony. They even pay the house tax to the government, but suddenly the officials forcibly demolished nearly 20 houses built by poor people in survey number 194. Some land sharks used their political clout to persuade officials to demolish poor people's dwellings in order to steal valuable land.

He questioned what minister Gangula Kamalakar was doing when the poor people were forcibly evicted from the village where they had been residing for the past 30 years. He cautioned that Congress will always fight for the poor and will intensify the movement with the villagers of Rekurthi village until justice is served.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Telangana Civil Rights Association conducted a survey in Rekurthi Nagar, led by state joint secretary Madan Kumar Swamy, and inspected the demolished dwellings of the poor. Since the government proclaimed its intention to turn Rekuthi Gutta into a tourism destination, several land sharks have banded together with ruling BRS leaders to try to reclaim the land that the government long ago granted to underprivileged Muslim people.

They requested that the government take up the matter under the suo motto and invoke PD Act against the revenue officials and land sharks who were attempting to take poor people's land.