Bhadrachalam: Police took into custody a team of the Congress Legislature Party heading to the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme on Tuesday, and took them to Paloncha on Tuesday night.
Tension prevailed at Manuguru crossroads in Bhadradri district after police tried to clear Congress workers and people who staged a protest on the road against the police barring the CLP team from entering Manuguru at 7.15 pm. The protesters were arrested.
The team planned to visit Sitarama irrigation project on Tuesday evening. Heated arguments took place between the police led by ASP Rohitraj and the CLP team members. CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka asked the police: “Are we in India or Pakistan.” He asked the police not to arrest party workers.
The police said there was a Maoist threat in the area. CLP leader Bhatti, MLAs D. Sridhar Babu and Seethakka and MLC Jeeven Reddy said that they were not convinced, and said it was a plot to create block their visit.
The police asked the team to go to Kaleshwaram via Hyderabad and not through Manuguru. It is learnt that the CLP team will not be allowed through at any cost.
The team was also not allowed to go to Dummugudem project in the morning, again citing the Maoist threat. Sridhar Babu said that the government was scared that the CLP team would expose the faulty design of the projects. “Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is behaving like a dictator. Not allowing Opposition leaders to visit the projects is the height of mockery of democracy,” he said.
