A car in which TDP leaders Buddha Venkanna and Bonda Umamaheswara Rao had been travelling in was attacked by a man, who rammed a wooden pole into the car’s window.
The incident reportedly occurred as the leaders were entering Macherla town in Guntur district on Wednesday morning. They were on their way to the police station to file a complaint on alleged obstructions faced by TDP candidates while trying to file their nomination on Tuesday for the upcoming local body polls in the state.
In a video of the incident, a man can be heard saying that Buddha Venkanna’s car had already been attacked, and that the rear window glass had been broken. The video seems to have been shot from a bike which was trying to follow the TDP leaders’ car, a black SUV. The visuals show the SUV, with its rear window completely shattered, at an intersection. A man on the street then rams a long wooden pole through the backseat window. After the glass breaks and falls apart completely, the man continues to ram the pole into the backseat, where the two TDP leaders are sitting, until the car moves ahead.
Addressing the media regarding the incident, TDP chief and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that YSRCP supporters from the region had carried out the attack. Naidu also stated that a High Court advocate named Para Kishore, who was working on the legal aspect of the nomination issue, had suffered injuries to the head in the same attack.
Naidu called the advocate Kishore, as well as MLC Buddha Venkanna and former MLA Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, who narrated their version of the incident to the media. Speaking over the phone with Naidu, Kishore alleged, “I was going in a car ahead, while Bonda Uma and Buddha Venkanna were coming in their car behind us. As soon as we entered Macherla, around 30 YSRCP members attacked the car, and injured me. Our driver tried to escape, but they chased us in around 10 motorcycles and 2 Scorpios. We entered Nalgonda through the Nagarjuna Sagar dam route, as we felt we could not trust Andhra police.”
Bonda Umamaheswara Rao alleged that the YSRCP workers had received information about their visit through the local police. He claimed that three cars in total had been attacked. “Our gunman who tried to defend us was also attacked, and he then escaped. The Gurazala DySP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) came and gave us an escort vehicle with a Sub-Inspector and constables, but the police vehicle in which we were being escorted was also attacked,” he said.
Macherla Circle Inspector Rajeswara Rao said that the video is being verified and the incident is being probed.
Naidu blamed the YSRCP government for the state of law and order in the region, and demanded that the DGP (Director general of police) Gautam Sawang and Chief Minister Jagan be held answerable for the incident.
Meanwhile, DGP Gautam Sawang has reportedly ordered Guntur IG (Inspector General of Police) to reach the spot and submit a detailed report over the incident.
Commenting on the incident, YSRCP leader and Minister for Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana blamed Naidu for the incident, alleging that TDP had conspired to create conflicts ahead of the local body polls. He questioned why the two TDP leaders were in Macherla, alleging that they had arrived in the town with a huge convoy and created mayhem, inviting the wrath of locals.