A protest against the proposed land acquisition for the contentious Pharma City project turned violent last November. In its aftermath, nearly 300 able-bodied men were illegally detained, including some who hadn’t even been present during the incident earlier that day. Since then, land acquisition has quietly continued in Lagacherla and two nearby villages.
Published Apr 27, 2025 | 6:41 PM ⚊ Updated May 24, 2025 | 7:38 PM
Land acquisition has been continuing in Lagacherla, villagers tell South First.
Synopsis: Dozens of villagers in Telangana’s Lagacherla suffered illegal arrests and brutal beatings at the hands of police last November, after protests against proposed land acquisition for the ruling Congress’s contentious Pharma City project turned violent. Once peaceful, Lagacherla now stands divided, with many residents still struggling with the trauma of violence, even as land acquisition continues quietly without much furore.
“I was kept in the station for a day and badly beaten up, for no reason. I was made to sit with my back to the wall. One constable sat on my feet, another on my thighs, while one more placed himself on my head. I somehow managed to endure the pain but am still unable to overcome the humiliation. Are we in a modern age or stone age?” asked Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, a 39-year-old who manages a poultry farm in Lagacherla village, about 120 km from the Telangana state capital of Hyderabad.
A huge tree with a circular cement bench that serves as an adda (a place where people sit for conversations), and a temple, mark the central points of Lagacherla village. That is where residents congregated to talk to South First about what happened last year and its aftermath.
Late last year, the village, roughly 15 km from Kodangal, headquarters of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s Assembly constituency in Mahabubnagar district, was in the news for all the wrong reasons.
A long-drawn protest over the proposal to acquire lands for the contentious Pharma City project turned violent on 11 November 2024, when the district collector and other officials visited the village for talks.
After months of peaceful rallies and relay hunger strikes, the affected, in a fit of anger and emotion, pelted stones at the officials.
What followed that night in the dark (the power supply was cut off) was a house-to-house search and detention of almost 300 able-bodied men, who were taken to different police stations nearby.
A good number of them, like Vishnu, had little to do with what had happened earlier in the day.
A fact-finding report by the National Human Rights Commission’s Investigation Division later highlighted serious lapses on the part of the Telangana Police during the crackdown.
A once peaceful village, far away from the hustle and bustle of cities, Lagerchela now stands divided.
CCTV cameras at the Parigi police station and the Circle Inspector’s office were found to be non-functional, and the General Diary entries were not updated, reflecting a “reckless attitude” by the police.
It confirmed that villagers, including minors, students and government officials – many of whom had no role in the protest against land acquisition for a proposed Pharma Village – were illegally arrested and beaten.
The arrests, the report said, appeared to have been influenced by political and personal rivalries rather than evidence.
Sitting under the tree in Lagacherla with this reporter, Vishnu – whose land was not proposed to be taken over and was not even present in the crowd that attacked government officials – said he was still humiliated.
He spent 39 days in jail before securing bail. When he was presented in court handcuffed, it was captured on video and quickly went viral, causing embarrassment to the government.
A once peaceful village, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, Lagacherla now stands divided. Locals have stopped talking to each other.
Police were deployed to prevent clashes when Sri Rama Navami was celebrated recently – a phenomenon unknown to locals until now.
The division is not just political but also based on who stands where – those supporting the acquisition (essentially Congress loyalists) and those fighting against it.
Most locals, including workers of the ruling Congress, admit that many fellow villagers unconnected with the episode were made to suffer.
Eighteen-year-old Sivakumar, a young Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary, who studies in an Industrial Training Institute in the nearby Wanaparthy town, was one of them.
He was in college on the fateful day but was still picked up, badly beaten and lodged in prison. Like many others, he too served more than a month in jail.
Of the 300 picked up during the cordon and search operation, only 71 were formally arrested, while the rest were released.
“The list of those against whom cases should be booked was provided by the Congress mandal president,” alleges Suresh, a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) functionary who was the first to launch a protest against the land acquisition.
Political and personal rivalries played their part. Vishnu Vardhan was associated with the Congress before but shifted loyalties to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Assembly elections in 2023.
In the Lok Sabha elections held later, the BJP secured a majority in the village. Thus, he reportedly became a target.
Likewise, Sivakumar, who refused to provide a path through his land to those belonging to the Congress mandal president, was similarly marked.
Meanwhile, off the radar for some months now, land acquisition, the cause for the original trouble, has been quietly continuing in Lagacherla and two other surrounding villages, without much furore.
Initially proposed as a Pharma City, the government changed the purpose of the land acquisition following the November incident.
Those who surrendered land have also been promised a job for a kin in the industrial units that would be coming up.
What is now being proposed is an industrial corridor where big firms are expected to set up units. Once the fear of pollution because of ‘Pharma city’ was taken out of equation, convincing villagers to part with the land has become easier.
Villagers say Lagacherla is part of river Krishna’s basin but cultivation here (paddy and pulses) is based on borewells. The state highway is not far off.
According to Lagacherla Congress president Ravinder Reddy, 70 percent of the land requirement for the proposed corridor has been met.
Farmers are either being cajoled or pressurised to give up their lands. Of the total 1200-odd acres for the corridor, 520 acres is in Hakimpet village, 610 acres in Lagacherla, and 70 acres in Polepally.
Land acquisition in Hakimpet has been completed. In Lagacherla, 300 of the identified 600 acres have been acquired. Likewise, the 70 acres in Polepally, almost entirely assigned land, has been acquired.
After the protest, the government enhanced the compensation from the initially proposed ₹10 lakh per acre to ₹20 lakh.
In addition, followers of Revanth Reddy have been handing over ₹3 lakh in cash for every acre of patta land that has been acquired.
“It is out of love for the locals that the Chief Minister made this special arrangement,” says Ravinder Reddy, with a beaming face. Those affected, however, point out that the market value ranges from Rs 60 lakh to 1 crore per acre.
Notably, Revanth Reddy had adopted Lagacherla while in Opposition.
According to Ravinder, it is the Chief Minister’s dream to build an industrial base in his constituency to generate employment and ensure development of an otherwise backward constituency.
Those who surrendered land have also been promised a job for a kin in the industrial units that would be coming up.
“It is unfortunate that innocents have also suffered arrests. I am not denying it. But all cases will be withdrawn once land acquisition is completed,” Ravinder Reddy said.
Media personnel who made a beeline to the village following the November incident have almost forgotten the issue. It is no longer on anyone’s radar, including the Opposition BRS.
As the river Krishna flows quietly some distance away, men and women silently wail the loss of their land, an emotion difficult to overcome, irrespective of the financial benefit.
Interestingly, there is only one forward caste member who is losing a mere 28 guntas of land in the acquisition.
The rest of the 1200 acres belong to members of the backward classes, Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. Just coincidence?
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
