The peaceful Seemandhra stir turned violent during the two-day ‘Tirupati Digbandhanam’ on Thursday night when a pro-Seemandhra mob tried to set fire to a telephone exchange at Vidyanagar on the western suburbs.
At Mantralayam in Kurnool district, the protestors deflated an RTC bus coming from Telangana. Police arrived in time before any damage could be caused to the bus. Earlier, an alert security guard at the phone exchange foiled the attempt of the offenders, who however succeeded in setting a diesel generator on fire. Meanwhile, fire broke out mysteriously in the office of the RTO at Mangalam village in Tirupati. Several files and office furniture were reportedly gutted. RTO Prasad attributed it to an electric short-circuit, but it was again suspected to be a case of arson, as the office had remained locked for days together due to the ongoing Samaikyandhra bandh.
