The Andhra Pradesh Police have registered an FIR against former chief minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu in connection with the violence in Punganur when TDP cadre clashed with the police resulting in injuries to 50 policemen deployed for the rally and set police vehicles on fire.
The TDP president has been accused of instigating his party cadre to violence. The FIR was registered in the Mudiveedu police station of the Annamayya district last evening following a complaint lodged by an individual.
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A number of party leaders have been named in the FIRs, including Chandrababu Naidu who was designated as accused number one, followed by former ministers Devineni Uma and N Amarnath Reddy respectively. A total of seven FIRs were registered in the Chittoor district in connection with the violence at Punganur and 245 people have been booked so far.
In all 72 people were arrested in Chittoor while 15 were booked in Annamayya. Naidu has been named in one of the FIRs filed in the Annamayya district.
The police claimed the attack on them was pre-planned as TDP protestors were carrying sticks, stones and beer bottles which were hurled on them injuring more than 50 policemen, including 13 critically injured.
The TDP and YSRCP activists had clashed ahead of Naidu’s visit at the Angallu village in the Annamayya district. Superintendent of Police Y Rishant Reddy accused Naidu of delivering a provocative speech in Annamayya which led to the violence at neighbouring Punganur in the Chittoor district.
The TDP president had reportedly called the local MLA “Ravana” leading to protest by YSRCP supporters. Later, he dared the YSRCP saying, “I am warning you, we too can come out on the streets with sticks.”
He also spoke to a DSP present at the rally derisively asking him to remove the uniform he was wearing. The state government has cited Naidu’s provocative speech as a reason for the violence at Punganur.
