Police thwart APCLC members meet, many held

Visakhapatnam: More than a dozen members of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) and Virasam were arrested under Section 151 of CrPC (preventive arrest) before their meeting could start at Public Library here on Thursday.

The police thwart the committee’s call for a public meeting in protest against operation Green Hunt, an anti-Naxal operation by the security forces in various the states. The APCLC along with few other organisation had called for a press conference at Public Library here on Thursday morning to announce the proposed public meeting on October 12 at Ambedkar Bhavan.

APCLS members including its president T. Sreerama Murthy and few others were picked up by cops of IV-Town police station even before their conference.
Similarly some more member of the committee were arrested when they tried to submit a memorandum to DIG (Visakha Range) P. Umapati protesting the arrest.

Police said that they arrested the members of APCLC as Section 30 under CrPC was in force (no meeting against the government can be held at public places without prior permission from police). The APCLC members claimed that Section 30 of CrPC cannot be invoked in this particular case as they planned to organise the press conference indoors. The arrested were released on self bond.