Ippatam house demolitions: Police stop Pawan Kalyan's car; actor walks to meet villagers

Guntur: Tension gripped Ippatam village after police stopped the vehicle of Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan. The actor-turned-politician was on his way to meet the people whose houses were demolished.

On Saturday morning, he landed at Gannavaram airport and traveled by road to Ippatam village in the Guntur district. A day ago, authorities demolished many houses on the pretext of road widening. Soon after the incident, Pawan Kalyan visited the village and interacted with the villagers.

On his way to the village, police stopped his vehicle. However, he got down from his car and walked on foot to the village. Police put up a barricade to stop the Jana Sena members from entering the village. "The state government in the name of road widening demolished compound walls, statues of Abdul Kalam, Mahatma Gandhi, and even Nandi. But why has not YS Raja Sekhar Reddy's statue been demolished?" asked Pawan Kalyan.

HC stayed demolition

Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday stayed the demolition of houses until November 15. According to the villagers, the compound walls of their houses, which were built 30 years ago, were demolished for road widening. Petitioners counsel Chidambaram said houses were built several years ago on titled land. Officials wanted to widen the road. When the villagers refused to accept their proposal, they were blamed for encroachment and served notices.