Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham who was scheduled to a lead a 'Satyagraha Padayatra' in East Godavari district on the issue of reservations in the state, was reportedly put under house arrest on Tuesday evening.

The New Indian Express reported that Padmanabham set out to Ravulapalem from his residence in Kirlampudi, when the police stopped them and informed them of his house arrest for the next 48 hours. 

Alleging that the state was being ruled by a dictator, he returned home.

The TNIE report also adds that security has been stepped up, as roughly 3,000 police personnel have been rushed from Kadapa, Chittoor, Kurnool and Krishna districts to the Konaseema region.

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad High Court refused to stall the padayatra of the Kapu leader, but added that it was the duty of the state to ensure that violence does not erupt during such events.

The agitation by Kapus, seeking inclusion in the Backward Classes category, had turned violent at Tuni on January 31 when protesters went on the rampage and set fire to a passenger train, a police station, besides police and private vehicles.

The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) is investigating the train burning case.

The state government on the other hand, constituted a BC commission to look into the demands of reservation by the Kapu community.

Padmanabham has criticized the BC commission, stating that it was delaying the submission of its report on one pretext or the other.