April 11, 2007
Maharashtra Police Cane BJP Activists, Leaders Arrested
Hyderabad
The Maharashtra police Wednesday used force to stop a protest march
by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists of Andhra Pradesh from
reaching the controversial Babli project being built by Maharashtra
on Godavari River after they stopped a similar march by Telugu Desam
party the previous day.
Five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists were injured as police
caned them on the inter-state boundary in Nizamabad district. The
police also arrested senior BJP leaders when they were trying to
cross into Maharashtra.
BJP state unit president Bandaru Dattatreya and former union
minister Ch. Vidysagar Rao were among 10 party leaders arrested near
inter-state border.
The caning and arrests of BJP leaders came even as Maharashtra
police released the leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who were
arrested for a similar attempt Tuesday.
All 15 TDP leaders, including nine legislators, were released by the
police in Aurangabad after keeping them in custody for nearly 24
hours.
Violence broke out Tuesday when hundreds of TDP activists tried to
march towards the site of the Babli project to protest the "illegal"
construction of the dam by Maharashtra.
At least 20 TDP activists were injured when Maharashtra police
resorted to baton charge when they tried to cross the border near
Dharmabad in violation of prohibitory orders.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in five districts of Telangana
region Wednesday due to a shutdown called by the TDP to protest
caning of their activists by the Maharashtra police. All parties
including the ruling Congress supported the shutdown call.
While public buses remained off the roads, shops, cinema halls,
business establishments and educational institutions were closed in
Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Warangal and Nalgonda districts.
Protesters in Karimnagar damaged a bus belonging to the Maharashtra
road transport corporation and sporadic violence was reported in
other parts of the region as well.
Demonstrations were staged in front of bus stations at several
places.
In Hyderabad, state Minister for Major Irrigation P. Lakshmaiah and
other ministers took out a silent march to protest the Maharashtra
government's attitude. Lakshmaiah was also last week prevented by
Maharashtra authorities from visiting the project site.
The state cabinet presided by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy
Wednesday discussed the issue even as reports from New Delhi said
Union Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz has asked
Maharashtra to stop construction of the dam.
The state cabinet decided to send a four-member ministerial team to
the national capital to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Soz
to seek their intervention.
An all-party delegation led by Reddy had last week met the prime
minister to seek his intervention in the dam controversy.
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