KAKINADA: The state government on Thursday worked itself into knots by first announcing that Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham would be under house arrest till August 2 and later beating a hasty retreat claiming he was not under house arrest in the first place.
When Mudragada came out of his residence on Wednesday morning to begin his Chalo Amaravati Padayatra demanding BC status for Kapus, the police stopped him in his tracks saying he would be under house arrest for 24 hours.
When he tried to resume his padayatra the next day, the same sequence followed, with cops telling him that he was under house arrest till August 2. “Mudragada will be under house arrest till August 2 as per the orders issued by the Collector under section 144/3 of the CRPC,” said Ravi Shankar Reddy, officer on special duty at Kiralampudi.
Later in the evening, the government took a U-turn with DGP N Sambasiva Rao issuing a statement that Mudragada was not under house arrest and was free to move about anywhere for his personal work. Similarly, people could meet him, but in limited numbers. “The only restriction is that Mudragada will not be allowed to take out his padayatra as he has no permission,” he said.
When asked why his subordinates were saying otherwise, the DGP said: “I am clarifying the situation now. He was not kept under house arrest. The orders were not interpreted properly.”
A heated argument ensued when cops stopped Mudragada for the second time. The Kapu patriarch asked police if they had indeed extended his house arrest till August 2, and if that was the case, why they were not shifting him to jail. He said it was “inappropriate” for the government to confine him to his house for as long as week. An exasperated Mudragada then returned to his house after announcing that he would resume his padayatra on August 3.