ANANTAPUR: The police on Tuesday arrested the members of rival TDP groups in the district and averted a possible violent showdown between them over allegations made against each other.
While one group owes allegiance to Tadipatri legislator J.C. Prabhakar Reddy, the other one is led by senior leader Jagadishwar Reddy.
Trouble started with the circulation of a pamphlet, allegedly based on the information from a Right to Information (RTI) petition filed by Mr. Jagadishwar Reddy’s elder brother, levelling corruption charges against Mr. Prabhakar Reddy and his supporter S.V. Ravindra Reddy during the period when Mr. Prabhakar Reddy was the Tadipatri municipal chairman.
Following this, Mr. Ravindra Reddy challenged Mr. Jagadishwar Reddy to an open debate at Gandhi circle in Tadipatri town on Tuesday to prove the allegations, while stating that he would come with proof of the unaccounted properties of Mr. Jagadishwar Reddy.
The police took pre-emptive action by arresting Mr. Ravindra Reddy and Mr. Jagadishwar Reddy and their supporters as they were preparing to gather at Gandhi circle in sizeable numbers. The police also put up barricades at several locations in Tadipatri and deployed personnel to prevent any untoward incident. The Anantapur Superintendent of Police, Mr. S.V. Rajasekhara Babu, told The Hindu that the situation was being continuously monitored to ensure that it did not go out of control.
Meanwhile, the TDP high command is learnt to have asked the party leaders to defuse the tensions and report back on the facts of the matter immediately.
