With the Palnadu villagers staying at the TDP ‘rehabilitation camp’ in Guntur being sent back to their villages, the police in Guntur has stepped up measures to build confidence among locals. Earlier on Wednesday, the police had evicted all 165 alleged victims of YSRCP attacks from the camp set up by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and sent them back to their villages with police escorts.
Guntur Rural SP R Jayalakshmi visited Atmakur on Saturday to speak to villagers, according to The Hindu. The SP reportedly assured the people that all complaints will be considered by the police without bias.
According to The New Indian Express, police officials have ‘adopted’ a couple of villages prone to violence in the region, from the Durgi and Gurajal mandals of Guntur district.
Five buses were arranged to send the people living at the camps back to their villages. Before sending them back, police and revenue officials recorded their statements about the problems faced by them in their villages. The officials had assured them that all steps would be taken to prevent clashes.
The villagers' return was preceded by a morning of high drama in the capital Amaravati and other parts of Guntur district as former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was placed under house arrest to foil his 'Chalo Atmakur' protest rally. The police also arrested TDP leaders and workers at the camp before evicting the inmates.
Tension had prevailed in the state in the past week after the TDP alleged that eight of its workers were killed in attacks by YSRCP leaders, most of them in Palnadu region since Jagan Mohan Reddy took charge as the Chief Minister. It claimed that 500 TDP activists and sympathisers were attacked since the announcement of election results in May.
Director-General of Police Gautam Sawang had said that the police had clamped prohibitory orders in the faction-ridden Palnadu region to prevent any showdown as the YSRCP had also called for a counter-protest march. The YSRCP too had announced that it will also conduct a 'Chalo Atmakur' with victims of the attacks by TDP leaders during the last five years.