ANANTAPUR: Uneasy calm prevails in Tadipatri of Anantapur district after the poll violence in Veerapuram of Tadipatri Mandal, where one TDP worker was killed, on Thursday. Additional forces have been deployed in the constituency, more so in Tadipatri. However, no untoward incidents were reported till the evening of Friday. Even Anantapur DIG Kanthi Rana Tata, ASP K Chowdeswari and other higher officials are camping in Tadipatri.
Four battalions, of 600 Andhra Pradesh Special Police personnel, are deployed with most of them patrolling in areas closer to the residences of Tadipatri MLA JC Prabhakar Reddy, whose son Asmith Reddy hopes to win the election on TDP ticket, and YSRC Tadipatri candidate Kethireddy Pedda Reddy. On the day, police officials, expecting trouble, intensified patrolling after a large number of followers and supporters of both the leaders gathered at their residences.
Tight surveillance helped in ensuring that there were no further clashes between the activists of both the rival parties. In Veerapuram, where YSRC and TDP activists waged a pitched battle with stones, sticks, and sickles near the polling centres, resulting in the death of the TDP activist China Bhaskar Reddy and injuring three others, on election day, a police picket was set up and Sections 144 and 30 were imposed.
In the evening, when his body was brought to the village from Kurnool government hospital, an additional force of 100 policemen led by SP GVG Ashok Kumar rushed to the village as a precautionary measure. The funeral will be held on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Tadipatri police registered cases against seven brothers--V Vamsi Mohan Reddy, Anil Kumar Reddy, Hari Kumar Reddy, Sunki Reddy, Uday Kumar Reddy, Rami Reddy, and Harish Kumar Reddy. All of them are YSRC activists and booked for causing violence. Cases were registered against them under Sections 147, 148, 188, 307, 450, 411 and 149 of IPC.
