Tension prevailed in Karimnagar town on Friday night when the authorities tried to remove the statue of Anabheri Prabhakar Rao — the martyr of Telangana Armed Struggle, who is also called Bhagath Singh of Telangana — that was installed on a traffic island in front of the Sri Venkateshwara Swamy temple near the market road.
As part of the third Brahmotsavam celebrations at the shrine, which would be held from January 25 to February 3, the authorities had planned to remove the statue. Objecting to this, activists of the Communist Party of India (CPI) rushed to the spot and obstructed the removal of the statue.
Following the arrival of CPI activists, the authorities stopped the removal work — they had by then removed the high-mast light on the island, garden and grills etc. As tension prevailed, the police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
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The Communist Party of India leaders lodged complaint against the authorities.
The CPI leaders ridiculed the authorities’ claim that installation of the statue in front of the temple was a ‘dosham’ (fault).
They warned that they would launch an agitation if the authorities went ahead with removal of the statue.
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