Police Firing in Srikakulam

On 28 February at Vadditandra village in the north coastal part of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh, police opened fi re on agitators fighting against the East Coast Thermal Power Project. To enquire about the incident, an Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights (OPDR) fact-finding committee visited Vadditandra, Kakarapalli, Telugupenta, H N Peta, Nagiripenta, Antlavaram, Vaddivada, Akasa Lakkavaram, Seeravanipeta villages and spoke to the people of these villages, members of the anti-project movement committee, the tahsildar of Santhabommali mandal, the revenue divisional officer of Tekkali, police officials, the family members of the deceased, and the injured. The committee found certain facts:

– Treating people, who had been agitating peacefully for almost 200 days as criminals, and the police from the lowest cadre to the highest official in chorus stating that “firing was opened only for self-protection” is a travesty of the truth. The police killed and the police themselves judge the act as self-protection. The claim of the police that only rubber bullets were used is another falsehood. The spinal injury of Bathini Barkaiah was caused by metal bullets.