Hyderabad: Tension prevailed on Friday as angry villagers of Rotibanda thanda in Dudyala mandal locked up a local Congress leader inside the gram panchayat office during a public hearing and said they would not part with their land for the proposed pharma village in Vikarabad district. Police resorted to a mild lathicharge to disperse villagers.
The villagers stopped Aviti Shekhar, mandal leader of Congress, at Rotibanda and told him that instead of trying to convince the villagers, he should take up their cause and ensure that they do not lose their land. There was a heated argument between the villagers and Shekhar following which he was taken to the panchayat office and locked up there. However, some villagers said a group of people took the Congress leader into the panchayat office for his own safety as tension was building up in the village. Shekhar was allowed to leave later.
Villagers said a majority of locals are small landholding farmers owning one to three acres of land and insisted that they would not part with their land for pharma village project. Even before officials landed in the village to seek opinion of villagers for the planned pharma village, scores of villagers gathered, opposing the project.