Police suspect that the vandalism of the former MLA Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga’s statue in the city and tearing of Khaidi No. 150 movie banners on Krishna-West Godavari borders were acts intended to create differences between two groups. On January 15, the statue was vandalised at Singh Nagar and the banners were torn at Atapaka village in Kaikalur mandal and at Tallayapalem village in Kalidindi mandal the next day.
According to sources, some youth roamed on two-wheelers in the early hours on January 15 and allegedly tore the banners of Khaidi No. 150 , starring actor-turned-politician K. Chiranjeevi. The miscreants also reportedly damaged the banners of Mohan Ranga in Kalidindi mandal on the same night.
At a press conference held on Monday, Director-General of Police (DGP) N. Sambasiva Rao said the police had some definite clues in the Singh Nagar incident. Krishna district Superintendent of Police G. Vijay Kumar said they got clues in the Atapaka and Tallayapalem incidents too.
As the three cases occurred within a span of a few hours , the police were probing the conspiracy angle. They sounded alert in the wake of the series of incidents which had some related features.
Footages not clear
“We cannot rule out conspiracy angle in the Ranga statue vandalism. The CCTV footages are not clear and we are on the job of identifying the accused. Nobody has been picked up in the case so far,” North Zone Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) K. Sravani, who is investigating the case, told The Hindu .
A few days before the release of the movies Gautamiputra Satakarni , starring hero Nandamuri Balakrishna and Khaidi No. 150 , the DGP had warned that police would not tolerate fan s resorting to violence during the release of the films.
“Going by the timing of the two incidents in Kalidindi and Kaikalur, it looks like a planned one. Police are investigating the unhealthy competition between two groups as the two films were released in a day’s gap,” a police officer said.
25 suspects picked up
The police were conducting cordon and search operations in Vijayawada and the neighbouring villages to prevent the movement of criminals and intensified patrolling after the incidents of vandalism were reported. The officers conducted vehicle checks and continued search operations till late in the night on Wednesday.
“We picked up 25 suspects as part of the search and cases have been registered under the Motor Vehicle Act, for driving vehicles without documents,” said an officer.
