Some unidentified persons today allegedly set on fire banana plantations and damaged agriculture pump-sets in six villages of Tullur mandal here, part of the region earmarked for establishing the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh.
J V Ramudu, Director General of Police of AP who is on a visit to Vijayawada, described the incident as an "intentional mischief".
Police have launched a probe and the motive behind the incident, which took place in the early hours, was not clear yet, officials said.
After receiving the information, District Collector Kantilal Dande and SP Urban Rajesh Kumar visited the villages and interacted with the farmers, whose banana plantations were set of fire and pump-sets damaged.
Revenue officials have taken up the damage assessment exercise.
The damaged plants were spread over a radius of 15 km, the SP said, adding Guntur Police were investigating the matter.
The Collector, too, has been asked to submit a report.
Tullur mandal is part of an agriculturally fertile area in Guntur and some local farmers are reportedly not ready to part with their lands for the proposed capital of the newly formed state.
Real estate prices in the proposed capital region have skyrocketed over the last few months.
