Hospet (Vijayanagar): Anand Singh, minister for tourism, ecology and environment, has been booked for allegedly threatening a Dalit family, whose members later attempted self-immolation, over a land dispute.
The FIR was registered against the minister and three others at Hospet rural police station, following a complaint lodged by D Polappa, a Dalit farmer, under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and sections 504 and 506 of IPC, said Arun K, superintendent of police, Vijayanagar district.
In his complaint, Polappa alleged that Singh, his three associates and 25 others came to his house at 1.45pm on Tuesday and threatened to burn him alive and also evict him and his family from the house. Polappa further alleged that he was threatened with murder as he had exposed Singh's encroachment of government land for his new bungalow in Hospet.
Before lodging the complaint, Polappa and his family members attempted self-immolation in front of Hospet rural police station on Tuesday night by pouring petrol on themselves. However, police intervened. "Cops rescued them and shifted them to hospital," said Arun, adding that a probe is on in both cases.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Congress questioned why the government had not taken legal action against Singh, who had built his house on government land. It demanded an inquiry into the allegations, protection for the person who raised his voice against the encroachment, and removal of Singh from Basavaraj Bommai's cabinet. tnn
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