Workers of the Telugu Desam Party on Monday held demonstrations across Andhra Pradesh to protest the arrest of party leader and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, reported The Indian Express.
Naidu was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on Saturday in connection with the alleged multi-crore Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation scam.
The police claimed to have prima facie evidence of his involvement in siphoning approximately Rs 371 crore belonging to the corporation through fictitious companies. He was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Sunday. The workers of the TDP had called for a statewide shutdown in protest.
On Monday, demonstrations were held in Amravati, Kadapa, Chittoor, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Anantapur, Guntur, West Godavari and other places.
In some places, the demonstrations turned violent as members of the party burnt tires down of tires and destroyed public property. Several of them were detained by the police, according to the Hindustan Times.
An unprecedented crackdown by the Tamil Nadu Police on the leadership of the TDP, however, kept the demonstrations low-key, according to The Indian Express. All 21 MLAs of the party have been placed under house arrest.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Shankha Brata Bagchi said that the situation in the state is peaceful and that no untoward incident has been reported.
“The situation is peaceful, depending on the situation, the local authorities have promulgated prohibitory orders,” he said, according to PTI.
Senior TDP leader Yanamala Rama Krishnudu said that the house arrest of party MLAs and crackdown on protesters amounts to a total failure to uphold democratic principles in the state.
“At least IAS and IPS officers who are supposed to uphold democratic values should not participate in this,” he said, according to The Indian Express.
He added: “The way a 73-year-old leader [Chandrababu Naidu] who has a name world over is being ill-treated is shameful and condemnable. If anything happens to Chandrababu Naidu while he is in police custody or jail, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRCP will be responsible.”
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