Scuffle between women, police

Visakhapatnam: Tension prevailed when members of Mahila Chaitanya and Girijan Sangam staged protests at the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) office in the city on Wednesday.

Mahila Sangam members resorted to protest alleging that the police department has been putting up banners and posters with their photos branding them as ‘Maoist sympathisers’. Similarly, Girijan Sangam members, too, staged a protest with the placards, banners and posters bearing the images of ‘Maoist sympathisers’ and victims of Maoist violence.

When both the groups took out rallies in the same way by raising slogans and staged protests at the same location, situation turned serious. Interestingly, all this took place in the presence of police personnel. Even before Mahila Sangam members could reach the GVMC, there were several posters and banners with ‘Maoist-sympathisers’ put up near the civic body office. Enraged over the posters branding them as ‘Maoist-sympathisers’, the members of Mahila Sangam and other women organisations tore them and set on fire.

Alleging that the Girijan Sangam was floated by the cops to serve police department’s interests as well as to water down demands of people’s issues, Mahila Sangam cadres condemned the act of imprinting images of their group.

Stating that members of Mahila Sangam, AIDWA, POW and AP Mahila Samikya continued their protest overshooting the time given to them, the police personnel arrested the women before sending them to II Town, III Town and IV Town police stations. This led to a scuffle between the women activists and the police personnel.

The Greater Visakha City Committee of CPM alleged that the tribals were forcefully brought into the city and formed as Girijan Sangam by the police department with the directive of the state government.