Hyderabad, Nov 29 (IANS) Following the public resistance, the Telangana government has withdrawn the notification for land acquisition for the proposed 'Pharma Village' in Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s constituency, Kodangal, and instead, it plans to acquire land for the establishment of a multipurpose industrial park.

The move came in the wake of violence in Lagacherla village where Vikarabad district Collector and other officials were attacked by a mob during a public hearing on November 11.

The incident had triggered a huge row with the ruling Congress party blaming the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for instigating people and the latter claiming that the land was being acquired for a pharma company owned by the Chief Minister's son-in-law.

The notifications were issued for acquiring 1,358.37 acres of Assigned/ Patta land in Hakeempet, Polepally, and Lagacherla villages of Dudyal Mandal for the establishment of Pharma Village.

The Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) proposed to acquire 71.39 acres of land in Polepally and 632.26 acres in Lagacherla village.

The land acquisition for Pharma Village met with stiff resistance in Lagacherla, where 632.26 acres of land was to be acquired from 580 farmers. On November 11, when District Collector Prateek Jain, Additional Collector Lingaiah Naik, Sub-Collector Umashankar Prasad and Kodangal Area Development Authority (KADA) Special Officer Venkat Reddy reached the village to talk to farmers, they were attacked by a group with stones and sticks.

While Collector and Additional Collector had a narrow escape, KADA Special Officer Venkat Reddy was injured. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Srinivas Reddy was also injured while trying to save Venkat Reddy.

Following the incident, police arrested scores of villagers. Former BRS MLA from Kodangal, Patnam Narender Reddy was also arrested on November 13. The police named him as the 'number one' accused. He has been accused of instigating people to attack officials.

Narender Reddy and others are currently in judicial custody.

In view of the recent developments, TGIIC submitted proposals to withdraw notifications. According to an official statement on Friday, fresh proposals will be submitted for acquisition of land towards a multipurpose industrial park.

The TGIIC submitted a fresh proposal for the acquisition of land towards the establishment of a multipurpose industrial park. The District Collector, Vikarabad has appointed the Sub-Collector, Tandur as Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) for acquiring land towards establishment of a multipurpose industrial park.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS