Police officials might not have anticipated that the Samaikyandhra agitation would be so intense, going by the deployment of forces in the town a day after the announcement of separate Telangana state.
The Central paramilitary forces which arrived in the state were entirely shifted to the faction feud areas like Tadipatri, Raptadu etc, which went to panchayat polls. Even the AP Special Police (APSP) contingents and local police were deployed for poll bandobust.
This made the difference when it came to dealing with anti-T protests in the town. The meager police force watched as spectators as the protestors pulled down statues, hoardings and everything that came in their way.
The police were seen requesting the protestors to maintain restrain, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Some policemen walked past as if they saw nothing as the rampaging mob went ahead with the arson.
Sensing that the situation was going out of hand, officials called for reinforcements, including paramilitary forces, and when they arrived, they did their best to control the rampage.
However, they were greeted with stones which came from all directions--from buildings and from lanes. The forces too retaliated by hurling stones and lobbing tear gas shells.
They managed to drive away the protestors for some distance, but the latter regrouped and fought a pitched battle. This lasted for several hours till the security forces used their lathis to disperse the mob. They even chased the protestors into a hostel and thrashed them.