Activists of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) tried to obstruct the convoy in which the Crime Investigation Department (CID) personnel were shifting former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu to Vijayawada after arresting him in Nandyal district in the A.P. Skill Development case on September 9.
After medical examination in the early hours, Mr. Naidu was brought to Vijayawada via Narsaraopet and Guntur by evening.
Along the 325-km-long journey, the TDP activists, including women and youths, squatted on the National Highway, burnt effigies of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and raised slogans against him, and tried to stop the convoy.
The police wielded lathis to chase away the people and clear the way for the convoy at a few places. The security forces, along with the rope and special party police, were deployed all along the National Highway to prevent the TDP activists from causing any trouble.
Across the State, the TDP leaders, who included former Ministers and MLAs, were kept under house arrest to prevent protests by the opposition party cadres. Tight security was provided at the government offices, the DGP office in Guntur, and at the TDP and YSR Congress Party offices.
Large contingents of police were deployed at the CID Special Investigation Team (SIT) office, the Government General Hospital (GGH), Vijayawada, and at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Special Court, where Mr. Naidu was likely to be produced.
The police blocked all the roads leading to the Civil Courts Complex in Vijayawada. They took some TDP activists into preventive custody when they tried to take out rallies protesting against the arrest of Mr. Naidu.
