Police firing kills 8 in Andhra

KHAMMAM/HYDERABAD: Eight persons were killed and 16 injured in police firing after the Andhra bandh called by Left parties on Saturday as part of their ‘‘land for the landless poor’’ agitation turned bloody in Khammam — the parliamentary constituency of Union tourism minister Renuka Chowdhary.

The agitation has been on for the last 84 days.

While the CPM blamed police ineptitude, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy said it had to be resorted to after Left activists attacked the police without any provocation.

He blamed an ex-Naxalite couple, who joined CPM recently, for creating the situation. The firing took place at Mudigonda village in Khammam.