Senior TDP leader K. Kala Venkata Rao on Thursday said he had the courage to face “false cases” filed against him and other party leaders, and alleged that the YSRCP government was misusing the Police Department to suppress the voice of the opposition parties.
Mr. Venkata Rao was arrested late on Wednesday night at Rajam in Srikakulam district in the case pertaining to agitation at Ramatheertham and was released on bail in the early hours of Thursday from the Cheepurupalli police station in Vizianagaram, where he was kept for nearly five hours.
‘No prior notice’
Later, addressing the media at Cheepurupalli and at Rajam, Mr. Venkata Rao said he was arrested without any legal basis and prior notice.
“I have been asked to attend a meeting with the committee that is looking into the Ramatheertham case. But they arrested me on the charge of indulging in violence during the visit of YSRCP Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaya Sai Reddy to the temple,” he said.
“The Police Department has failed to arrest the culprits who had vandalised the idol at the temple but arrested me to divert the attention from its failures,” said Mr. Venkata Rao.
On January 2, Mr. Venkata Rao had accompanied party national president N. Chandrababu Naidu to the Ramatheertham temple, where tension prevailed with the simultaneous visits of the TDP, BJP and YSRCP leaders.
Earlier, high drama was witnessed at Cheepurupalli with the arrival of top party leaders from Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts on Wednesday night itself to protest against the arrest of Mr. Venkata Rao.
Vizianagaram Superintendent of Police B. Vijayakumari told the media that Mr. Venkata Rao was arrested after receiving a written complaint from Mr. Vijaya Sai Reddy.
