District revenue officials on Saturday demolished the compound wall of a house belonging to Pathivada Venku Naidu, a former army man, at Dasannapeta near Ramatheertham temple under Nellimarla mandal.
The officials alleged that Naidu had illegally occupied temple land. The incident led to protests in the area.
The action was taken following a complaint from Telugu Desam Party (TD) workers in a grievance cell organized by the party. Villagers supporting Naidu claimed that the TD members had developed a grudge against him because he voted for the YSR Congress (YSRC) in the recent elections.
Sources indicated that several people from different political parties had occupied and built homes on lands belonging to the Ramatheertham temple.
Upon receiving the complaint, revenue personnel, along with a 60-member demolition squad, swiftly moved to Venku Naidu’s house.
Villagers demanded that all the houses on the two-acre land be demolished if Naidu's house was targeted.
However, the demolition squad stated they were acting on the orders of the Revenue Divisional Commissioner of Vizianagaram district and proceeded to demolish only the compound wall of Naidu's property.
Nellimarla Tahsildar K Dharma Raju explained that the compound wall was demolished according to government regulations and in the public interest.
He mentioned that a notice had been served to Venku Naidu, but there was no response within the stipulated period, leading to the demolition of the wall.
