Tension prevailed at the residence of Andhra Pradesh’s former minister and senior TDP leader Chintakayala Ayyanna Patrudu in Visakhapatnam district on Thursday as police remained deployed for a second day amid reports of his likely arrest.
Large number of police and paramilitary forces personnel descended near the minister’s residence in Narsipatnam town late Wednesday after police served a notice on him for his alleged abusive comments against Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
However, Patrudu was not at his house when a team of police officers went to serve the notice. They pasted the notice on the door and asked his staff to inform him about the notice.
Scores of workers of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also rushed to the party leader’s residence. They warned that their leader’s arrest will have serious consequences.
The police had booked Patrudu for his alleged abusive and derogatory comments against the chief minister on Tuesday.
A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was booked at Nallajerla police station in West Godavari district on a complaint by a leader of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
The TDP leader has been booked under sections 153 A, 505 (2) and 506 of the IPC for promoting disharmony, enmity of feelings of hatred between different groups and criminal intimidation.
YSRCP leader Kandepu Ramakrishna had lodged a complaint that the former minister made objectionable remarks against the chief minister during his speech at the unveiling of a statue of TDP founder and former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao at Nallajerla three days ago.
This is the latest in a series of cases booked against the former minister in recent months. In September last year, Guntur police had registered a case against him for certain remarks against the chief minister.
He was also booked following clashes between TDP and YSRCP workers when the latter had staged a protest near the residence of TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu at Undavalli demanding an apology for the objectionable remarks made by Ayyanna Patrudu against Jagan Mohan Reddy.
In June 2020, Visakhapatnam rural police had booked the former minister under the Nirbhaya Act for a speech where he verbally abused a woman municipal commissioner, even threatening to strip her.
