Guntur: Police foil 'Chalo Guntur' protest

Guntur: Police foiled the Chalo-Guntur programme by detaining TDP leaders and former Ministers Nakka Ananda Babu, Prathipati Pulla Rao, Alapati Rajendra Prasad and party leaders Chalavada Aravind Babu and Kovelamudi Ravindra(Nani)in Guntur district on Saturday. All the TDP leaders were placed under house arrest.

The police said that they had detained the leaders as a precautionary measure. They had set up pickets and check-posts at 10 places to foil the Chalo-Guntur programme.

The police also arrested CPI State assistant secretary Muppalla Nageswara Rao and other leaders while they were proceeding towards the district jail in Guntur in protest against the handcuffing of farmers of Amaravati.

In response to the call given by the TDP and Rajadhani Parirakshana Samithi, the TDP and CPI activists staged a protest near the district jail in Guntur city.

The police arrested Muppalla Nageswara Rao, CPI leader Jangala Chaitanya, JAC leader Puvvada Sudhakar, Dalit JAC leaders Martin Luther and others and shifted them to Pattabhipuram Police Station.

Tension prevailed for a brief while as police shifted the agitating activists and members of Rajadhani Parirakshana Samithi to Pattabhipuram police station, The leaders of the JAC, TDP and CPI raised slogans against the government.

Earlier addressing the gathering, Nageswara Rao condemned the handcuffing of farmers by the police while shifting them from Narasaraopet to Guntur district jail and demanded that the government withdraw cases booked against the farmers immediately.

He warned that if the police failed to withdraw the cases, they will intensify their agitation.

The police released the activists on bail in the evening.