The two-day agitation by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists, led by Karimnagar Member of Parliament Bandi Sanjay Kumar, demanding that the State government resolve the ongoing strike by TSRTC-JAC got diverted on the issue of police high-handedness in manhandling of the MP during the funeral procession of the RTC driver and ended after an assurance of action against responsible official by Police Commissioner.
On Friday night the Karimnagar MP along with his supporters took out a rally to the office of the Commissionerate of Police here demanding action against the police officials, who had reportedly manhandled him by catching him by his shirt collar during the funeral procession of RTC driver Babu in Arepalli.
After the police officials ensured the family members of RTC driver Babu conduct his last rites and prevented the politicians and JAC leaders from attending the funeral, the BJP leaders took up the issue of a police official manhandling the Karimnagar MP at Arepalli.
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Rasta roko
The BJP leaders led by the MP took out a rally and staged a rasta roko flaying the alleged police highhandedness. Later, they laid seige to the CP’s office forcing incharge CP and Ramagundam Commissioner of Police V. Satyanarayana to meet them.
The CP tried to pacify the protestors by saying that no police official had assaulted the MP by touching his collar and that it was only a melee where the protestors and the police jostled.
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However, the Commissioner of Police, who was shown video footage of the incident, relented and gave the agitating BJP leaders an assurance to take action against the responsible police official. Following the assurance the BJP leaders ended their strike.
Congress protest
On the other hand, the Congress leaders led by TPCC working president president Ponnam Prabhakar, MLC T. Jeevan Reddy and MLA D. Sridhar Babu and other leaders of the RTC JAC participated in a rasta roko and ‘vanta varpu’programme demanding that the State government resolve the ongoing strike by RTC employees and flayed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for his adamant attitude in spite of several RTC employees ending their life.
Earlier in the day, the BJP activists led by its district president Basa Satyanarayana and others went around the town to enforce the bandh. However, the police arrested the protestors.
Unprecedented security
Unprecedented security arrangements were made by deploying additional police forces in the town. Ramagundam Commissioner of Police V. Satyanarayana, Rajanna-Sircilla SP B. K. Rahul Hedge were supervising the security arrangements. Following the rasta roko on the busy roads, the traffic police had diverted the traffic to other routes.