High tension at TD office in Gannavaram, CI suffers head injury

Vijayawada: Tension mounted at the Telugu Desam office at Gannavaram when it was ransacked and a vehicle set on fire allegedly by supporters of Gannavaram MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi on Monday evening.

In the melee, A circle inspector, Kanaka Raju, had a head injury and was rushed to a hospital for medical treatment while a police constable suffered minor injury.

Some unsavoury remarks of the Gannavaram MLA against Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu and his son Lokesh two days ago forced TD supporters to target the legislator. In retaliation, the legislator’s supporters attacked the TD party office.

Supporters of both TD and YSR Congress squatted on the national highway in protest, affecting vehicular traffic for some time. The rival groups clashed there. A huge posse of police was immediately deployed to bring the situation under control.

Based on a complaint from injured CI Kanaka Raju, police booked a case under section 253, 307 of IPC and under the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The main accused and TD leader Pattabhi Ram along with others was arrested.

Meanwhile, police set up pickets to avoid further trouble and promulgated a ban on assembly, under section 144, to maintain peace.

TD chief Chandrababu Naidu condemned the attack on the party office at Gannavaram by the YSR Congress supporters and slammed the police for failing to act. He said law and order was in disarray in the state and demanded action against the perpetrators of the violence and sought intervention of the governor.

TD general secretary K Pattabiram’s wife Chandana alleged that her husband was taken into custody by the police when he went to the TD office. Though the driver and PA were in the police station, she could not find her husband in the police station.

Another TD leader Kollu Ravindra warned that his party would give a “return gift” to MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi once the TD returned to power in the state.