A few officials were injured seriously in stone-throwing by farmers and three vehicles were torched.

Farmers had laid a siege to the MRO offices here and Bommanahal and the HLC sub-divisional office since yesterday. They retreated in the wee hours of today and came back with women and children around 8 am.

The agitating farmers raised slogans vociferously, demanding release of water.

The situation slipped out of control when a constable hit a farmer on the head with his lathi leading to bleeding. Incensed with the incident, the farmers resorted to stone throwing on the police and other officials present there and the sub-divisional office of the HLC.

As the situation was going out of control the police, who observed utmost restraint till then, resorted to a lathicharge first.

When the situation continued to worsen, they burst teargas shells and fired two rounds in the air to disperse the mob.

In the meantime, an angry mob among the farmers torched the jeeps of the Rayadurg CI and HLC office and the Bullet belonging to the Kanekal SI. The vehicles were gutted. The farmers also ransacked the HLC office completely by damaging furniture and burning files. They did the same thing with the MRO's office last night.

The angry farmers also damaged a fire tender, which was rushed there from Kalyanadurg to extinguish the fire raging from the torched vehicles, and an APSRTC bus by breaking the windscreens.

The Deputy Executive Engineer of HLC, Venkateshwarlu, the Kanekal Sub-Inspector, Munwar Hussain, the Kanekal MRO, Kullayappa and head constable, Habeeb, sustained serious bleeding injuries in the attack. They were hospitalised immediately. The farmers had beaten the DEE and MRO badly by dragging them out of their offices.

Besides, the Guntakal DSP, Markandeyulu, the Rayadurg CI, Satyanarayana Rao, the Gummaghatta SI, Balakrishna, and three more constables sustained minor injuries in the stone-throwing. Three farmers and two children also sustained minor injuries in the lathicharge.