By IANS
Hyderabad : The communist parties' agitation seeking land for the poor in Andhra Pradesh took a violent turn Saturday as at least eight activists were killed in police firing on protestors in Khammam district.
A woman and an eight-year-old boy were among those killed in Modigonda, 15 km from Khammam town and about 250 km from here.
Eight people were injured in the incident. The condition of three of them was stated to be critical.
The agitation programme took a violent turn when activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), who were on a protest fast and blocking a road, allegedly threw stones at a police vehicle, injuring two policemen.
The policemen, several of them in plain clothes, opened fire on protestors including a large number of women sitting under a tent.
A driver of a truck, which was stopped by protestors, was also among the dead.
Telugu TV channels aired pictures of policemen firing several rounds from automatic weapons on the protestors. Most of the victims were shot on abdomen, chest and head. The bodies were lying in pools of blood while the injured were writhing in pain. Wailing men and women had gathered around them.
The situation remained explosive in the region as CPI-M activists took the bodies to the office of the Khammam district collector and were staging a sit-in outside it.
CPI-M leaders alleged that the police firing was unprovoked and aimed to kill innocent protestors.
In Hyderabad, Home Minister K. Jana Reddy announced a high-level probe into the police firing and sent Inspector General of Police Purnachandar Rao to Khammam district to conduct the inquiry. "If any policeman is found guilty we will take action," the home minister told reporters.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy took serious note of the police firing and held a meeting with Director General of Police M.A. Basit and other top officials to review the situation.
The violence and police firing in Khammam district took place during the daylong shutdown called by the Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI-M to protest the use of force by police on their activists at different places in the state on Thursday.
The police firing evoked sharp reaction from all opposition parties. The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which had backed the daylong shutdown, termed the police firing as barbaric and inhuman.
For nearly three months the Left parties have been demanding distribution of government land and housing sites among the poor. Activists and many poor people have been occupying government land across the state as part of the agitation.
When the communist parties staged demonstrations across the state Thursday, police had caned protestors at some places. The issue had dominated the 10-day assembly session, which concluded Friday.
The police firing has marred the talks the state government was holding with CPI and CPI-M leaders to solve the issue. The talks between two sides remained inconclusive Friday and were scheduled to resume Saturday.
In Hyderabad, CPI state secretary K. Narayana, CPI-M secretary B.V. Raghavulu and eight other leaders, who were on an indefinite hunger strike for seven days, were shifted to a hospital by police since their condition was deteriorating.