Two sarpanches were arrested by the Medchal police for violating lockdown norms. One of the sarpanches, K Surender, sarpanch of Gowdavelli village has been booked for attending a pooja along with associates at a temple in his village.

Meanwhile, another sarpanch was detained for not allowing the villagers to attend duties at seeds firms. He was identified as Ch Ganesh, sarpanch of Muneerabad in Rangareddy district. Ganesh was earlier warned by the police not to resort to such acts. Despite being warned, the sarpanch stopped the workers from attending studies and was arrested.

The police said that the government has accorded permission to the workers of agriculture-related industries to attend duties. The police registered a case under sections of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and IPC.

Five days ago, a sarpanch's husband Tirupathi Reddy was booked after the excise department officials found Rs 2.6 lakh worth liquor found in his home. The police also arrested Tirupathi's friend Kondamamidi Ravi, after finding 60 bottles of liquor from his home.