Conduct CBI probe into Guntur stampede deaths: TDP

Vijayawada: The TDP on Monday demanded a CBI probe into the three deaths reported in Guntur due to stampede on Sunday.

TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah on Monday said that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was totally shaken on noticing the massive gatherings at the public meetings of TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu.

Talking to mediapersons at the TDP State office in Mangalagiri, Ramaiah asked as to how three persons died, particularly after Naidu left the venue, though 200 policemen were on security duty. "The State government should answer whether the three persons really died in the stampede as reported or they were done to death," he asked.

He said the TDP holds the Chief Minister and his government responsible for the deaths. He said the Chief Minister was unable to digest the fact that huge crowds were attending the meetings of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. He suspected the role of sleeper-cells of the ruling party behind the death of the three persons in the Guntur incident.

Suspecting a conspiracy behind the deaths in Guntur, Ramaiah demanded that cases under Sections 120 (B) and Sections 302 be registered against the persons responsible for the deaths. Demanding a CBI probe into the whole incident, Ramaiah felt that the facts will not come to light if the State police conduct the inquiry.

He was also of the opinion that the State government will not give a free hand to the Guntur SP to conduct an inquiry into the whole issue as facts will come to light.