Director-General of Police (DGP) N. Sambasiva Rao on Saturday said the ‘Kurukshetra Sabha’ planned by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) in Guntur district on Friday was a conspiracy.
In all, 5,215 protesters, who tried to attend the meeting, were taken into custody, he said.
‘A1 is Krishna Madiga’
Police booked six cases each in Krishna and Guntur districts, and MRPS national convener Manda Krishna Madiga, who allegedly instigated the mobs, stood as the main accused (A1) in all the cases, the DGP said.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Sambasiva Rao said about 50% of the agitators were from Telangana and a few of them were from the Osmania University.
The protesters torched a police vehicle and a hut, damaged a toll gate office and three APSRTC buses, besides holding traffic for about six hours on the National Highway.
“There was no permission for the Kurukshetra Sabha, and the organisers misled the cadres. The agitators violated Section 30 of the Indian Police Act and Section 144 of the CrPc, and resorted to violence,” the DGP said, adding that the violent incidents would be taken to the notice of the High Court.
The police tried in vain to pacify the protesters at Nambur, Chinakakani and Bapulapadu police post on the AP-Telangana border. But the agitators entered the State in about 150 vehicles and squatted on the highway, causing severe inconvenience to the general public.
‘None will be spared’
“Arrests will be made with enough proof. We will go through the footages captured by drones, body-worn cameras and video clippings and identify the accused. The police will not leave any person involved in rioting,” he said.
‘Did not expect
such a crowd’
Asked whether the arson was the result of intelligence failure, Mr. Sambasiva Rao said there was a mismatch between the number of people who turned up and the estimation of the police. “We coordinated with our Telangana counterparts but did not expect a crowd of that size. Hundreds of people from Khammam and Warangal districts, who tried to march into the State, were taken into custody on the the State border and other places,” he explained.
