Yerragondapalem: BJP condemns lathi-charge on 'innocent people'
Police preventing BJP Prakasam district leaders from meeting the victims at Yerragondapalem on Wednesday
Yerragondapalem (Prakasam district): BJP Prakasam district leaders condemned the lathi-charge on people at Israel Pet in Yerragondapalem and the subsequent restrictions on them to meet the injured persons on Wednesday.
A communal disturbance occurred at Israel Pet in Yerragondapalem town when a group of Christians wanted to construct a church in the area and an arch just beside Poleramma temple. Local Hindus objected to the construction and the two groups involved in a tussle. Police lathi-charged the people claiming that some of the agitating people were throwing stones at them. BJP State and district leaders condemned the police action and alleged that they became puppets of the ruling party, particularly MAUD Minister and local MLA Dr Audimulapu Suresh.
On Wednesday, the fact finding committee by the BJP, including party district vice-president Ravulapalli Nagendra Yadav, general secretary Rayapati Ajay Kumar and others visited Yerragondapalem and tried to console the victims of the lathi charge. However, local police blocked them at BJP Yerragondapalem office and threatened to take them into preventive custody.
Nagendra Yadav and Ajay Kumar condemned the attacks on local Hindus and the lathi-charge by police. They criticised that police are behaving like puppets of the YSRCP leaders, MLAs and Ministers. They alleged that Minister Suresh is encouraging religious conversions, and supporting the illegal construction of churches, crosses and arches in Yerragondapalem and all over the district.
They further alleged that on the instructions of Minister Suresh, police lathi-charged the innocent people, who objected to the illegal constructions. They condemned the restrictions imposed on them to meet the victims and warned that the BJP would launch an agitation all over the district, and organise mass protest in front of the Collectorate in Ongole, condemning the negligence of the police in taking action against the real culprits who initiated communal violence.