Wives of the constables of APSP VIII B attalion at Kondapur in Hyderabad continued their dharna on Sunday bringing the vehicular traffic to a grinding halt.
The wives of the constables, who caused ripples by damaging the main gate of the APSP office and mobbing Inspector General Venkateshwarlu on Saturday, continued their protest on Sunday too in protest against the higher APSP Battalion officials not granting leave to the constables for months even for sickness and other emergency problems. They also made it clear that they would not give up their agitation until Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy gave a categorical assurance that their problems would be solved forthwith.
Responding to the demand of the constables’ wives, the Home Minister has directed the higher police officials to hold talks with the protestors and solve their problems immediately. The Home Minister said that she realized the problems of the policemen’s wives and decided to solve them at the earliest. She also said that she has convened a meeting with APSP Battalion’s Director General and others on Monday.
Following the directive of the Home Minister, Additional Director General Goutham held talks with the family members of the APSP police constables.
Meanwhile, the protest, which started at Kondapur on Saturday, spread to some districts on Sunday with women taking up cudgels on behalf of their husbands, who are allegedly overworked and being denied leave by their seniors. The women also alleged that their seniors were taking bribes to sanction leave. Tension prevailed at APSP VIII battalion at Kondapur when the women protesting for the second consecutive day tried to attack APSP Inspector General A.B. Venkateshwar Rao. The protestors threw footwear towards Rao, who allegedly introduced a new system recently under which the constables were required to work for 40 days in remote areas outside their battalion range.
Raising slogans of ‘we want justice’, the women sat on the road. They lodged their protest at Kondapur when APSP Director General Gautam Swang reached there to review the situation. The women and children also came out to protest at the V Battalion in Vizianagaram district, the 11th battalion in Kadapa district and the 13th battalion in Adilabad district.
The officials held talks with protestors and reportedly agreed to withdraw the controversial order. However, no official announcement was made. It may be mentioned here that the protest began a few days ago when VIII Battalion constable Phani Kumar, who was sent to Rampachodavaram in East Godavari district, died of health problems after he was denied leave. The women blamed the Battalion’s commandant Ramesh Naidu for the constable’s death. They alleged that Naidu was harassing the constables. (NSS)
