Punganur Violence: Chittoor Police Arrest 9 More Rioters, Malladi Vishnu Condemns TDP Attack

Aug 07, 2023, 17:49 IST

Chittoor/Vijayawada: The Chittoor police have arrested another nine persons in the Punganur violence on Monday. So far 72 people have been detained while the prime accused identified a TDP Punganur constituency in-charge Challa Babu is evading arrest. The police have formed six teams to arrest him.

Last week, during TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu’s visit to Punganur clashes broke out between the ruling YSRCP workers and TDP cadre. Naidu was supposed to take the bypass road, however, he changed the route and entered the town which resulted in clashes. Amid clashes, the local TDP leadership mobilised cadres who went on a rampage. They attacked the police personnel on duty with sticks and pelted stones on them and also set two police vehicles on fire.

The district police have intensified their investigation into the Punganur violence by gathering CCTV footage from the check post on Andhra-Karnataka border and also collecting details about the movement of TDP cadres who came from Anantapur, Bengaluru and Rayachoti.

Meanwhile, YSRCP MLA Malladi Vishnu, Vijayawada mayor Shailaja Reddy and party workers staged a protest near Pipula X roads and condemned the Punganur violence engineered by Naidu and his men.

“The man (Naidu) claimed to have an experience of running a government for three terms, however, in recent days his behaviour has been reprehensible. TDP cadres attacked the police (in Punganur) but the Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan chose to look the other way. It is quite obvious that the opposition parties have realised that they are going to lose the Assembly election. Out of frustration, they resorted to violence,” Malladi Vishnu said.