Parchur: Dalit Hakkula Parirakshana Samithi leader Neelam Nagendra Rao, along with others, confronted Bapatla DSP Ramanjaneyulu and RDO Gloria over alleged discrimination in the statue installation rules at Degaramoodi village, Martur mandal. Following complaints about Martur CI Seshagiri Rao’s alleged assault on Dalit youth during the statue installation dispute, district officials conducted an inquiry at the Martur MDO office on Monday.

Nagendra Rao and other leaders attended the inquiry. They questioned why restrictions apply to Dr Ambedkar’s statue when upper-caste political leaders’ statues face no such obstacles along the Martur national highway. The Dalit activists accused CI Seshagiri of physically attacking activists Jyoti Potluri and Alladi Pramod Kumar at the police station, with the victims receiving treatment at the Government Hospital in Martur.

The leaders demanded immediate registration of SC/ST cases against CI Seshagiri and Panchayat Secretary Kanneboina Srinivasarao, and called for the statue’s installation without delay. They criticised officials for conducting the inquiry at the MDO office rather than at the actual site of the incident.