Amaravati: Peddireddy draws Naidu fire over attacks on SCs

Amaravati: TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu came down heavily on panchayat raj and rural development minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy for encouraging attacks and atrocities against SCs in Chittoor district.

In a statement on Saturday, Naidu expressed concern that even the police were trying to cover up cases of atrocities against Dalits using threats and inducements against the families of victims.

Naidu demanded that the police disclose the details of call lists and records in the cell phone of Punganur Dalit youth Om Prathap whose death raised many questions. He asked what was the need for the police to take away the victim's phone when they initially said there was no case and no suspicion on anybody.

The TDP chief strongly objected to the manner in which post mortem was carried out secretly on Prathap's body. It was another mistake on the part of the police to snatch away the victim's cell phone from the family members, he added. The call lists were crucial to unravel the mystery behind the death. The police should reveal the call data which would bring out the facts as to who made threatening calls, he added.

Naidu pointed out that only after the TDP's demand, the post mortem was conducted, that too in a secret manner. In Choutupalli too a Dalit's was taken away, he said.

"They made the people believe that the Dalit died when a tractor overturned. But the fact was that there were burn injuries on the victim's body," Naidu said.