VIJAYAWADA: Krishna police have taken former minister and TDP leader Kollu Ravindra into custody and prevented him from observing the proposed 36-hour ‘deeksha’ at Koneru Centre in Machilipatnam, resenting the alleged ‘artificial’ scarcity of sand created by the YSRC government.
With Ravindra announcing to go on the 36-hour fast from Friday, the police went to his residence in order to keep him under house arrest. However, as the former minister had already reached the venue of ‘deeksha’, the police rushed to the spot and shifted him to a police station, and later to his residence.
Mild tension prevailed when Kollu Ravindra was being taken into custody due to scuffle between TDP cadres and the police.
The police clarified that they had issued a written statement rejecting permission to the TDP leader to observe ‘deeksha’ at Koneru Centre as it would create inconvenience to the public and disturb law and order. The TDP leader was suggested to instead protest at Dharna Chowk near Bal Bhavan.
However, as Kollu Ravindra ignored the orders and prepared to launch his protest from the proposed venue, the cops arrested him under CRPC 151. He was released later. The police also said that they have denied permission to other YSRC leaders from staging dharnas at the same location as the protests might lead to law and order problems.
However, the TDP leaders, including party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, took serious exception to the arrest.
“It is atrocious on part of the government, which created an artificial scarcity of sand and obstructed the ‘deeksha’ by former minister Ravindra. Such an unwanted situation might not have risen if the government had paid even the least attention to resolving the problems of the poor,’’ Naidu tweeted.
TDP AP president K Kala Venkata Rao, party deputy floor leader K Atchhannaidu and several other leaders condemned Ravindra’s arrest and flayed the government.