Hyderabad, July 21: A Telugu Desam party delegation on Tuesday met the Governor, Mr E S L Narasimhan, and submitted a memorandum urging him to intervene and get the cases foisted by the Maharashtra police against party chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, and 74 other legislators scrapped and an apology rendered by them for illegally detaining the TDP leaders.
The memorandum signed by Dr Nagam Janardhana Reddy, Mr K. Vijayarama Rao, Dr U Venkateswarlu, Mr B Gopala Krishna Reddy, Mr P Keshav and Mr Varla Ramaiah also urged the Governor to take the matter to the notice of the President of India and render justice to Andhra Pradesh, a lower riparian state.
The delegation explained in the memorandum that the purpose of the visit was only to know the ground level situation of the Babli project, to present facts to the Prime Minister. They further stated that the Maharashtra police had assured the TDP leaders that 10 members of the delegation would be taken to the project site in police vehicles. Instead, they were taken o the ITI campus in Dharmabad, Nanded district and declared arrested. When the act was protested, the other legislators were also taken into custody, the TDP leaders explained. They said this was nothing but an unlawful act on the part of the Maharashtra police officials, violating the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, to move freely in the country.
“This is a deliberate attempt by the Maharashtra government to suppress facts about the illegal construction. Till now, the delegation was kept illegally on the campus of a private ITI at Dharmabad and cases were booked under Sections 143 and 183 IPC and Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act. The magistrate first ordered judicial remand till July 19 and till July 26 yesterday. The delegation took the stand that they did not commit any offence and they only wanted to visit the project site.
They argued that as the citizens of India and as public representatives, they have a right to visit the project site” the TDP leaders explained in their memorandum to the Governor.
The Maharashtra police did not bother even when several legislators fell sick, they complained and alleged that the media was attacked and the TDP cadres who were proceeding to visit the arrested leaders and legislators were beaten up.
“Last night at around 9-30pm, the Telugu Desam leaders were asked to board two police vans without giving any order of remand and without revealing where they were being taken. When it was protested by woman legislators, they were threatened and forced to squat in protest. It is to be highlighted that the whole delegation was on fast yesterday in support of the hartal by people in AP” they said in the memorandum.
They urged the Governor to intervene and do justice to Andhra Pradesh.
——–NSS