Tension in Nalgonda after stone pelting; four policemen injured

Tension gripped Nalgonda town today when a group of devotees pelted stones at police and houses of a particular community in the Old Town in Nalgonda prompting security personnel to fire tear-gas shells to disperse the protesters.

At least four policemen were injured in the incident even as around 50 protesters were taken into custody, police said.

Trouble broke out when a large number of devotees of Lord Ayyappa and Hanuman took out a rally towards Nalgonda Town police station to protest beating up of a auto-rickshaw driver, who was in Ayyappa Deeksha, by two members of a particular community yesterday, police said.

The devotees who gathered before the police station raised slogans and held a protest demanding action against the two youths while a group among the devotees went towards the Old Town and started pelting stones on the houses and also on police personnel, they said.

Police who immediately intervened initially resorted to lathi-charge and later lobbed tear-gas shells to control the situation, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Hyderabad Range) Y Nagi Reddy said. The situation is peaceful now and police have imposed prohibitory orders in Nalgonda town following the incident, he said.

The two youths had beaten up the driver, after his auto hit their two-wheeler, though police had yesterday itself held peace meeting and tried to resolve the matter. However, the group of devotees who were instigated, damaged the motorcycle and resorted to stone pelting during the rally today, the senior police officer said.