Agitators lathicharged

By Our Staff Reporter

GUNTUR, JULY 26. Even as the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, left Guntur on Wednesday with an impression that he did not encounter any untoward incident during his visit, the police had beaten up some workers of the Communist parties and their affiliated bodies, who gathered outside the Police Parade Grounds - the DWCRA meeting venue - and raised slogans against the power tariff and the Chief Minister.

While Mr. Venkata Reddy, district secretariat member of the Communist Party of India-(Marxists), suffered a bleeding injury on his ear, the Tenali division secretary of Andhra Praja Natya Mandali, a CPI(M)- affiliated body, fractured his leg. Mr. P. Srinivas, a photo journalist, was also beaten up by the police.

The police had deployed heavy forces at every important junction in the town from Tuesday and Wednesday. They were successful only in preventing the agitators from encountering the Chief Minister in the route taken by him from the helipad to the DWCRA meeting venue.

Nearly 300 activists belonging to various organisations gathered in front of the State Bank of India main branch and began raising slogans against the Chief Minister. They demanded immediate withdrawal of the enhanced power tariff.

Meanwhile, several policemen surrounded the agitators and beaten them up. The police raided the offices of the Communist parties on Tuesday night and rounded off several important leaders.

Some Congress workers, who tried to take out a procession from Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan to the parade grounds, were prevented at the Nagarampalem junction.

According to a report from Ongole, there was a lathicharge on activists of the Communist parties besides use of water canons by the police to prevent people from holding a demonstration against the power tariff hike when the Chief Minister visited the town.

Mr. P. V. Sreenivasa Rao, leader of the CPI-ML, alleged that the police misbehaved with women demonstrators near Maurya hotel while TDP workers had beaten up women agitators.

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Section  : Southern States
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