Khammam: The Dharna Chowk in front of the Khammam collectorate which has seen many demonstrations by political parties and employees’ bodies, saw a different kind of dharna on Thursday.
The parents of one Lingaiah, a constable working in Khammam, staged a dharna at the chowk demanding that the government counsel their son to look after them. They carried a flexi with their son’s picture wearing his police uniform with the slogan Kudu – Gudda Kosam (need food and shelter)”.
Constable Lingaiah’s father Konda Mallaiah said he had worked as a coolie to educate his three sons. And now that he and his wife were old, they asked their sons to give them Rs 1.5 lakh each for their sustenance.
While two of their sons gave the money, Mr Lingaiah allegedly took the entire amount promising that he would send them money and would add his share to the amount. But he did not do so.
The constable’s mother, Pullamma, said, “We educated our sons by working hard. But now we do not have money.”
When news of the dharna by Lingaiah’s parents spread, the urban police picked up the old couple. When media persons tried to interview the couple at the police station, sub-inspector Mogili did not allow it.
“Dharna Chowk is a dais arranged by the government for victims to air their problems. How can one be picked up from there while protesting?” asked a journalist.
Dharna Chowk falls under the jurisdiction of Two Town police, but it was officials from the urban police who took away the couple.
Meanwhile, DSP Suresh Kumar said that they had only taken the old couple to the police station to try to solve the issue by talking to the couple’s other sons.
