Former MLA and YSRCP leader Vallabhaneni Vamsi was arrested in Hyderabad on Wednesday by the Andhra Pradesh Police in connection with an attack on the TDP office in Gannavaram and shifted to Vijayawada.

YSRCP slammed his arrest alleging that the case was false and that Chandrababu Naidu-led coalition government was indulging in vendetta politics against Opposition leaders.

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The former Gannavaram MLA, who had secured anticipatory bail, was picked up in the morning from a posh apartment complex in the Raidurgam area and then taken to Vijayawada. He had allegedly threatened the complainant M Satyavardhan to withdraw the complaint against him.

He has been charged with intimidation, kidnapping, and threatening the witnesses and complainant. Apart from several sections under the BNS, he has also been charged with the Prevention of atrocities on SC and ST Act.

After his arrest in Hyderabad, the accused was brought to the Krishna Lanka police station for interrogation. Alleging that non-bailable sections were being filed against Vamshi, his advocate said, “It is illegal custody. He is innocent. He was protected against all the past cases. This is a new case.”

The MLA’s wife also followed the police vehicle in a separate car but at Nandigama police prevented her from going any further.

AP Agriculture Minister K Atchannaidu alleged that Vamshi had threatened M Satyavardhan, a computer operator working at the TDP office when a mob attack on the party office took place. “As the YSRCP leaders threatened him, he had withdrawn the case,” he said while adding that a fresh complaint was filed by Satyavardhan’s mother.

He denied that the former MLA was arrested because of any kind of vendetta.

According to the YSRCP, Vallabhaneni Vamshi was arrested in a fabricated case, aimed at suppressing opposition voices. The party alleged that the petitioner Satyavardhan was pressured to name the former MLA in the TDP office attack case.

Party spokesperson Jupudi Prabhakar Rao claimed that YSRCP leaders and activists are being false cases while actual perpetrators remain scot-free. YSRCP also blamed former IPS officer AB Venkateshwara Rao, once suspended by the previous government, for indulging in vendetta politics and misuse of police machinery.