The Andhra Pradesh police on Wednesday evicted all 165 alleged victims of YSRCP attacks from a rehabilitation camp set up by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and sent them back to their villages with police escorts.
This followed 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 arrested TDP leaders and workers at the camp before evicting the inmates. Five buses were arranged to send them 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 assured them that all steps would be taken to prevent clashes.
Tension has been brewing in the state ever since 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.
Naidu condemned the police "attack" on the camp, the arrest of the TDP leaders and said that the alleged victims were forcibly evicted. He said that the victims should not have been sent back without creating confidence in them and punishing those involved in the attacks on them.
The TDP chief alleged that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was 'murdering democracy' by resorting to house arrest and the arrests of TDP leaders who wanted to participate in a peaceful rally.
Director-General of Police Gautam Sawang had said that the police had clamped prohibitory orders in the faction-ridden Palnadu region of Guntur 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 'Chalo Atmakur' with victims of the attacks by TDP leaders during the last five years. Its leaders alleged that Naidu was resorting to cheap gimmicks. Home Minister Sucharita dubbed those at TDP camp in Guntur as "paid artists.”
IANS inputs