Kirlampuri village remained tense in the wake of the proposed padayatra of Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, OSD Ravishankar Reddy said Padmanabham was put under house arrest following reports that there was possibility of violent incidents if Padayatra of the Kapu leader was allowed. Stating that no permission was given by the police for Mudragada’s padayatra, the OSD said Padmanabham was put under house arrest under Section 151 CrPC.
Meanwhile, supporters of Padmanabham, Kapu leaders and workers were making a beeline to Kirlampudi village, the police were preventing them from entering the village. However, the villagers were being allowed only after verifying their identity and after thorough frisking.
AP Deputy Chief Minister Nimmakayala Chinarajappa, while speaking at Amaravati, has alleged that the YSR Congress Party was behind Mudragada Padmanabham’s padyatra. He said it was not proper for Padmanabham to create problems for the government and provoke the people. “There was no need of reservation in politics and being a Kapu leader, we support reservation for Kapus in education, job and social sectors”, he said. Chinarajappa alleged that YSRCP leaders did not speak a single world about reservation of Kapus or their welfare in its recently concluded plenary.
In Visakhapatnam, minister Ganta Srinivas Rao called upon people not to support Padayatra of Padmanabham as the former was a pawn in the hands of a political leader.
As soon as Mudragada left Kirlampudi, he was stopped by police personnel. Even as Mudragada appealed to the police to allow him to undertake his padayatra for Kapu reservations, which were promised by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu during the elections, the police put him under house-arrest for 24 hours. The police also set up many check-posts on the national highway at Kirlampudi.
Apart from the local police, Special Police and paramilitary forces were pressed into service. As many as 6,000 cops have been deployed in the district and another 5,000 were being brought into the district. It is learnt that over 6,000 Kapu leaders have been put under house arrest.
The State capital Amaravati has virtually turned into a fortress with security upped on all the roads leading to the capital city. Barricades have been erected at several places and every vehicle was being checked. The Karakatta road, which leads to Chief Minister’s residence, is being heavily guarded. (NSS)