Protesting farmers lathicharged at Chandragiri

TIRUPATI: Police fired tear gas shells at agitating farmers in Chandragiri after they blocked roads and held a dharna at the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh office for more than seven hours on Thursday.
Chandragiri is the home town of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The dharna was held in protest against the irregular power supply and forcible collection of dues by Transco officials.
The farmers squatted on the the national highway between Tirupati and Chittoor from 9 am till 4 pm bringing all vehicular movement to a standstill.
Senior police officials and APTransco officials tried in vain to convince the agitating farmers. When senior police officials tried to divert traffic through the bypass road, the farmers shifted their rasta roko to Ayithapalli, 5 km away from Chandragiri, forcing the traffic to a grinding halt.
Additional police forces that were rushed to Chandragiri to control the situation immediately tried to vacate the farmers.
The farmers reacted by pelting stones and empty bottles at the police which resulted in a lathicharge by the police.