A tense atmosphere prevailed in the Andhra Pradesh towns of Amalapuram and Kirlampaudi, as the prominent Kapu leader, Mudragada Padmanabham, hit the road once again on Tuesday seeking the release of those accused in the torching of the Ratnachal Express train and a police station in Tuni on January 31.
The Andhra Pradesh CID police produced the seven accused in a local magistrate’s court, which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.
Mr. Padmabham has been spearheading an agitation since January demanding reservation for Kapus in Government jobs and educational institutions by including them in the notified list of Backward Classes. His Kapu Aikya Garjana agitation began with his indefinite fast and a sit-in on the railway track. But the protest soon turned violent and led to the torching of the train and a police station. He withdrew his fast then on the Government’s assurance that a commission would be appointed to look into providing quota for Kapus and no cases would be registered against those responsible for the violence.
On Tuesday, as the accused were sent to judicial remand, Mr. Padmanabham arrived at the Amalapuram town police station along with his associates asked the police to release the accused and arrest him instead.
Kapu youths soon thronged the police station in large numbers and raised slogans. A police team then arrived at the station in a special bus and took Mr. Padmanabham away.
Protest in busOnce the bus reached Mr. Padmanabham’s house in Kirlampudi, he was asked to alight. The leader, however, said he would sit in the bus until the seven accused were freed.
The police then told Mr. Padmanabham about their remand and said it was not possible to bring them back from judicial custody. But he was unmoved. “We have not arrested Mr. Padmanabham. He is not willing to get down from the bus and not taking anything except water,” M. Ravi Prakash, Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu .
