ONGOLE: Miscreants allegedly broke into the house of a 75-year-old man and damaged property as they accused his family of violating the rules imposed recently in the village. The incident took place at Vijayalakshmipuram in Chirala rural police station limits on July 22.

Locals of the fishermen's village, which has around 200 houses, decided to observe a self-imposed lockdown some time ago and, thus, restricted the entry and exit of vehicles. The 75-year-old, P Lakshmaiah, has been living there with his wife and sons for the past two decades. One of his three sons is an APSP constable and lives in another house in the same village.

On the day of the incident, the attackers allegedly gained entry into Lakshmaiah's house when his sons went out. In the attack, his daughter-in-law and grandson were injured and they were admitted to government hospital.

Based on a complaint lodged by the family, police registered a case against 22 persons on the same day, and took 12 of them into custody.Meanwhile, there was an alleged attack on the house of P Babu Rao, APSP constable, on Wednesday evening and three vehicles, including a tractor, parked outside were set on fire.

"Through some relatives, I came to know that my house would be attacked. Only my father was injured as my brothers had already gone to a relative's place at that time. They (locals) did not even allow the RMP to attend to my dad. With the information of the attack, I approached local police only to be told that they were helpless. They advised me not to venture into the village. Despite being a policeman myself, I can’t visit my family," Babu Rao told TNIE on Thursday.

Chirala rural Circle Inspector Rosaiah could not be reached for a response till Thursday evening. DSP Y Jayarama Subba Reddy said he was not aware of the incident as he was engaged in other official work.