Girijana Sangham, CPM protest

Paderu (Visakhapatnam): Members of the AP Girijana Sangham and the Communist Part of India (Marxist), who have been on an indefinite fast since Saturday demanding a probe into the misappropriation of funds relating to the coffee plantation in the Agency and to pay wage arrears to the coffee farmers, staged a half-naked protest in front of the ITDA on the second day on Sunday. The coffee farmers, led by the AP Girijana Sangham and the CPM, began a relay fast since June 11 and intensified it from Saturday as there was no response from the ITDA. Alleging that Rs 54 crore was misappropriated in the plantation project, leaders M Suryanarayana and Surendra demanded the government to recover the same from the erring officials. Threatening that the agitation would be intensified, the leaders called for an Agency bandh on Monday in protest against the government apathy in curbing the irregularities in the coffee plantation.