In a clash between two Village Revenue Officers (VROs) in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, one of them allegedly ended up biting his colleague’s ear. The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon at the tehsildar office in Kurnool.
According to The New Indian Express, Sunkesula VRO Venugopal Reddy worked as a computer operator at the Kurnool tehsildar office, and often uploaded information regarding applications brought in by others VROs from villagers. On Sunday, a clash erupted between Venugopal Reddy and Joharapuram VRO Krishnadevaraya. The reason for the clash remains unclear. A few media reports suggested that the two VROs had fought over a monetary transaction. TNIE reported that Venugopal Reddy was allegedly in the habit of demanding money from other VROs for uploading their applications, and the scuffle began when he demanded money from Krishnadevaraya. On the other hand, local media reports suggested that the quarrel was triggered by a delay on Venugopal Reddy’s part in uploading a farmer’s application, which, when Krishnadevaraya verified online, turned out to have mistakes in it.
The two VROs allegedly got into a physical fight, flinging footwear at each other, when Krishnadevaraya ended up biting Venugopal Reddy’s ear. Speaking to local reporters, Krishnadevaraya said that Venugopal Reddy had thrown his footwear at him and had hurt him, so when his face was close, he ended by biting him. He claimed that he himself was hurt in the shoulder and chest, while Venugopal Reddy had started to bleed. Krishnadevaraya also said that it was not their intention to fight, as their ultimate goal is to serve farmers.
The tehsildar office staff and the MRO Tirupati Sai intervened in between the fighting VROs, who were then taken to the government hospital for first aid. The MRO reportedly resolved the issue between the two officers.
Revenue offices have lately turned into volatile spaces, since the death of tehsildar Vijaya Reddy in Telangana’s Abdullahpurmet. Vijaya was set on fire and killed in her office chambers on November 4. Since then, there have been at least two instances of threats of suicide or violence in MRO offices in Andhra, in Chittoor and Kurnool districts.