Visakhapatnam (The Hawk): Ayyanna Patrudu, a top TDP figure and former minister, was detained by the Andhra Pradesh police on Thursday on charges of illegal encroachment and fraud.
Early on Thursday morning, officers from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) detained him at his home in Narsipatnam Town, Anakapalli District. Rajesh, his son, was also detained. They were moved to the Visakhapatnam CID office.
Around 200 police officers, according to the leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)family, ,'s arrived at the residence at 3 a.m. After sticking the arrest notice on the gate, some of them scaled the wall to enter the residence. As the TDP leader and his family argued with the police officers and questioned their action in breaking into the residence, there was tension.
Many TDP leaders and workers went to the party leader's house after hearing about the arrest to voice their anger. They shouted insults towards the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) administration.
The police's treatment of the former minister and his son like thieves was questioned by the TDP leaders.
The former minister and his son were detained on suspicion of presenting a fictitious document to the high court over the demolition of the former minister's home by the Narsipatnam municipal authorities.
The police had filed a case against them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for forgery and trespass (IPC).
Padmavati, the wife of Ayyanna Patrudu, claimed that the policemen were overbearing because they wouldn't even let him change clothes. She said that for the previous three years, the YSRCP government had targeted the family. She said that the government would be liable if anything happened to her husband and son.
In the meantime, police detained a number of party leaders as a precautionary measure because they expected TDP protests in Visakhapatnam. They included V. Ramakrishna Babu, an MLA from Visakhapatnam East.
The municipal authorities in Narsipatnam allegedly removed an unauthorised boundary wall from the TDP leader's home in June of this year.
Patrudu, a TDP politburo member, has been a harsh opponent of Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for a long time. He was arrested in February for making slanderous remarks about the chief minister.
The CID charged Patrudu's other son Vijay last month for allegedly spreading false information against Y. S. Bharathi, the wife of the chief minister.
(Inputs from Agencies)