A senior Andhra police officer took a stand on Friday night, and refused to give permission to a YSRCP MLA and his followers, to conduct a protest.
A video of Tirupati (Urban) SP Jayalakshmi telling Nellore MLA K Narayanaswamy to leave a mortuary, is going viral, with many people sharing it on social media.
Earlier in the day, a gruesome accident occurred in the state, where a speeding lorry ran over several pedestrians near the Yerpedu police station.
The incident occurred at around 2pm in the afternoon, and the driver was suspected to be drunk. While many people were crushed by the lorry, several others were injured after an electric pole fell on them at the accident spot.
Most of the victims, were staging a protest before the Yerpedu police station, demanding action against illegal sand mining in their native villages, when the accident occurred.
Later in the night, the Nellore MLA turned up at the mortuary where the bodies of the victims were shifted, and began raising allegations that it was a targeted killing.
This seemingly ticked off the SP, who can be seen indulging in a war of words with the MLA.
In the video that surfaced, she is seen saying, "You are doing politics over dead bodies. Do you have any humanity? When so many people are dead, you want to do a dharna. What is that way of talking? I'm a uniformed officer. You should understand that. You are intimidating me and preventing me from doing my duty. You should behave like an MLA. Please leave. This is not the place for politics."
She then manages to get the MLA and his followers to leave, even as they raised slogans against the police.
Speaking to the media later, Jayalakshmi said that she was at the spot five minutes before the incident, and had even met with some of the protesters.
"Whenever there is an issue in a village, it is common for 10 to 20 people to come to the police station and submit a representation...some people are trying to combine the accident with the mining issue. This is wrong. Our priority is to save lives, and we have been working from morning to help people," she said.
"At this point, when so many people are dead and suffering, it is not right to talk like this. The lorry belonged to someone from Nellore and was transporting a load from Chennai to Hyderabad. It is a pure accident case," she added.
When The News Minute contacted her, the police officer said that she did not want to comment on the issue further, having already made her stand clear.
Watch the video here:
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister N China Rajappa expressed shock over the accident and directed that the injured be extended necessary medical treatment.
The State Cabinet also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased.