Telangana HC grants bail to ex-MLA, 24 others in Lagacherla case

Hyderabad  (The Uttam Hindu): The Telangana High Court on Wednesday granted bail to former BRS MLA Patnam Narender Reddy and 24 others in the Lagacherla case. The court directed Narender Reddy, who is accused number one in the case, to submit a personal bond of Rs 50,000. The remaining accused were directed to give a personal bond of Rs 20,000 each.

Narender Reddy is currently lodged in Cherlapally Jail while the remaining accused are in Sangareddy Jail. They are likely to be released on Thursday. The court has refused bail to two accused, including accused number two Suresh Raj, a local leader of the youth wing of the BRS. Reacting to the court order granting bail to the former MLA and others, BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao said that this is a victory of the Kodangal farmers who fought "valiantly against the oppressive Congress government". Several villagers, including farmers, were detained after an attack on the Vikarabad district Collector and other officials at Lagacherla village during the public hearing on land acquisition for a pharma cluster on November 11. Kodangal Area Development Authority (KADA) Chairman Venkat Reddy and Additional Collector Lingya Naik sustained injuries along with Vikarabad DSP Srinivas Reddy. Former BRS MLA from Kodangal, Patnam Narender Reddy was arrested in Hyderabad on November 13. The police named him as the number one accused. He was accused of instigating people to attack officials. The incident in Kodangal constituency represented by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had created a furore with the ruling Congress blaming the BRS for instigating violence. The BRS, however, termed it people’s revolt against the forcible acquisition of their land by the Congress government.

The issue had hit the national headlines after the BRS took up the issue with the National Human Rights Commission, the SC/ST Commission, and the Women’s Commission about the alleged police atrocities. Tribal women, farmers, and other victims from marginalised communities had complained about alleged oppressive measures by the state government. The state government on November 28 withdrew the notification for land acquisition for the proposed ‘Pharma Village’