Over 1,000 people have been taken into preventive custody in connection with the agitation by supporters of united Andhra Pradesh even as the protests continued for the eighth consecutive day on Wednesday, a senior police official said.
Also, 221 persons were arrested so far and as many as 124 criminal cases were registered against the protesters in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra districts in the wake of the Samaikyandhra agitation over the past one week, under specific sections of the IPC and other Acts, Additional Director General (Law and Order) of Police VSK Kaumudi said today.
The protesters were charged with offences like damage to statues of national leaders, buses (both APSRTC and private buses) and public property, besides, rioting and assault. For the cases pertaining to damage to statues of national leaders, 39 cases have been registered and 94 accused have been arrested, the ADG said.
Police urged the local community to co-operate with them in protecting the statues, which they themselves had installed, out of respect and affection for national leaders.
PTI