Tension prevailed in Amaravati capital region on Wednesday as police foiled a 48-hour hunger strike called by High Court advocate and JaiBheem Bharat Party chief J. Sravan Kumar in support of local farmers who were staging an agitation against the State government.
Along with Mr. Sravan Kumar, police arrested a total of 21 persons at Thullur in Amaravati, and released them after a while.
Mr. Sravan Kumar and his supporters visited Thullur in support of the ongoing agitation by the Amaravati farmers when the police swooped down on them and placed them under arrest.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Sravan Kumar said that he had come to Amaravati to support the farmers who had given their lands for the development of the capital city. He alleged that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy did not give ‘developed returnable plots’ to the farmers as promised while taking their agriculture lands, and was instead distributing house sites to the poor.
Mr. Sravan Kumar announced that his party would organise Dalit meetings across the State, explaining how the government suppressed the rights of the people. He said that the government was suppressing public protests, which would not be tolerated in a democratic country.
Permission not sought, say police
Thullur DSP Pothuraju said that Mr. Sravan Kumar did not obtain the permission of the police to stage a protest in the Amaravati capital region. “Section 144 of the CrPC and Section 30 of the Police Act are in force in this area, as the capital is a sensitive zone and agitations have been going on there. In addition to that, the Chief Minister is going to distribute house site pattas to beneficiaries on May 26 here, which is why police have increased security and surveillance,” Mr. Pothuraju said.
The DSP said that without prior permission, police would not allow any outsiders to stage agitations, protests, hunger strikes or other such activities. The police arrested Mr. Sravan Kumar and released him later to prevent a law and order problem arising out of the unexpected hunger strike call given by him, the DSP said.
