Mangalagiri: TDP terms Ashok Babu arrest 'govt's political vendetta'

Mangalagiri: TDP National Spokesperson K Pattabhi Ram asserted that the latest arrest of their party MLC P Ashok Babu was part of the ongoing political vendetta of the YSRCP government. Pattabhi said that an FIR was registered against Ashok Babu on the day, when the associations of government employees gave their strike notice. 'Now, Ashok Babu was arrested on the day when the CBI got full evidence of the involvement of the YSRCP government in cases involving derogatory remarks against High Court judges.'

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, the TDP leader said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is pursuing a dangerous agenda of suppressing the Opposition leaders' voice when his government was in crisis.

The YSRCP regime was not hesitating to go to extreme lengths in political suppression of opponents in order to divert public attention from its frauds, he criticised.

Pattabhi Ram asked how a corruption-tainted employee like Meher Kumar's complaint could be taken into consideration. There were doubts whether Meher Kumar filed a false case against Ashok Babu after his brother's wife got director's post as a quid pro quo, he pointed out.

The TDP leader said it became a matter of routine for the Jagan Reddy government to target the TDP leaders to save itself in times of crisis. "Ashok Babu was targeted just because he exposed the government's betrayals in the 'reverse PRC'. Ashok Babu was known for his relentless fight for the employees' benefits in his former capacity as APNGOs ex-president and chairman of Samaikyandhra JAC," he stated.

Pattabhi said that the Supreme Court had ordered not to arrest without giving 41A notice in sections awarding less than seven years sentence. In order to conform to this, additional sections were hurriedly added by the CID officers to arrest Ashok Babu, he added.

The TDP leader said that there were just three sections in the FIR filed on January 24. 'They are increased to seven sections in the notice pasted outside the residence of Ashok Babu on the midnight of February 10. There is an increase of four sections in the FIRs registered in January and February.'

Pattabhi Ram pointed out that Ashok Babu had mentioned in his MLC election affidavit that his educational qualification was Intermediate. How could the government accuse Ashok Babu of falsifying certificates? he questioned. Section 467 involves forgery of registration documents, but this was wrongly being used against Ashok Babu now, the TDP leader said.