VIJAYAWADA: A day after some farmers of Amaravati region were handcuffed while being shifted from Narasaraopet sub-jail to Guntur central prison, Opposition Leader and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has accused the YSRC government of ‘defaming’ Andhra Pradesh by such acts. As the issue attracted criticism, the Guntur Rural police placed six constables responsible for handcuffing the farmers under suspension and issued charge memos to two senior officials. An additional SP rank officer was appointed to conduct a departmental probe into the incident.
The farmers from Amaravati region were arrested recently on the charges of obstructing people from proceeding towards the capital region for participating in a rally in support of the government’s plans to have executive capital at Visakhapatnam instead of Amaravati. Initially, they were lodged at the Narasaraopet sub-jail and after Covid tests, they were shifted to Guntur prison, during which they were handcuffed.
Naidu wondered how the innocent farmers could be treated in such an inhuman way. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the TDP chief said it was violation of human rights to use handcuffs after the cases have been withdrawn. Meanwhile, TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah wrote a letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) requesting its interference in the farmers’ handcuffing incident.
He also submitted video clippings of the incident to the commission. The peacefully demonstrating farmers were handcuffed as if they were criminals and terrorists. The police violated Article 19 of the Constitution. A case should be filed against the AP government, he demanded.