A large police deployment around former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s farmhouse in Erravelli prevented a potential confrontation between Congress and BRS supporters on Tuesday, with about 450 people taken into preventive custody and no first information reports registered, police said.
More than 800 police personnel and six senior Indian Police Service officers were deployed around the farmhouse in Siddipet district after Congress supporters announced plans to march to the site. The proposed protest followed allegations that two BRS members of the legislative council had made objectionable remarks about Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar.
Senior officers began reviewing the security situation late on Monday night after intelligence inputs indicated that rival groups could converge on the farmhouse. Hyderabad joint commissioner of police (traffic) Joel Davis, who had earlier served as Siddipet police commissioner, and Siddipet police commissioner Rashmi Perumal examined arrangements around Erravelli and neighbouring villages.
Police established interception points and cut-off locations in Siddipet and adjoining districts to prevent supporters from reaching the protest site. Officers also identified political leaders and people considered likely to trigger unrest for possible preventive detention. By Tuesday morning, director general of police (law and order) Mahesh Bhagwat, inspector general S Chandrasekhar Reddy, Cyberabad joint commissioner of police (traffic) Sunpreet Singh and LB Nagar deputy commissioner of police Anuradha had joined the operation. They monitored the arrangements from Markook police station.
“All outside traffic was cut off about 500 metres away from the farmhouse on all sides,” a senior police officer said. According to the officer, local interception points were established at Shivar Venkatapur, Erravelli, Varadarajpur and Markook. Police also stopped supporters of both parties from entering Siddipet from Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Malkajgiri, Medak and Karimnagar districts.
Despite the restrictions, groups attempted to approach the area through agricultural fields and internal village roads, police said. Officers alleged that some protesters were carrying footwear in buckets, purportedly to throw at members of the opposing group. Around 450 Congress and BRS supporters were detained during the day, including Koppula Eashwar, G Sunitha, V Pratap Reddy and Narsa Reddy. They were taken to different police stations and released in the evening.
Gajwel rural circle inspector D Ravi Raju said police had received no complaints connected with Tuesday’s protests in Erravelli and surrounding areas and that no FIRs had been registered. Police maintained heightened vigilance on Wednesday as the political dispute continued. Congress leaders alleged that BRS supporters had washed roads in Erravelli and Varadarajpur where Congress activists had protested a day earlier, but Markook and Gajwel police said they had received no complaint regarding the allegation.
