AP special status: Thousands detained ahead of 'beach protest', roads blocked
A heavy posse of police and armed security personnel has been posted on the beach while roads leading to it have been sealed.
Visakhapatnam: Thousands of youngsters who were on their way to RK beach in Visakhapatnam to take part in a silent protest demanding Special Category Status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh were detained at various places in the city on Thursday.
It has been a curfew-like condition in and around RK Beach with hundreds of police and other security forces fanning out across the city to prevent the protestors entering the beach road, to participate in the proposed silent protest.
All roads leading to the RK Beach were blocked and tight security was put in place at all the busy junctions of the city.
The police took leaders of various political parties into preventive custody from Wednesday midnight itself.
Despite the curbs, youth in droves marched towards beach road. They made a symbolic protest by tying black ribbons before being pushed into police vehicles.
Meanwhile the groundswell of support by the Tollywood fraternity to the silent protest remained confined only to the ‘virtual world’. Except actor Sampoornesh Babu who belongs to Telangana and producer Thammareddy Bharadhwaja, no one from Tollywood turned up at Vizag.
Both of them were detained by the police at Vuda park when they tried to go to RK Beach. Actor and Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan too restricted himself only to tweeting. However, members of his outfit Janasena took part in the protest.
A private university in Vizag and some private colleges had warned the students against participating in the silent protest. They sent SMSes to the students as well as their parents to restrain from participating in the protests and those who do, will be viewed seriously. Students seeking higher marks in practical examinations, internal exams, and to get their PhDs were warned to steer clear of those protests.
Several tourists, who stayed in hotels and guest houses in and around RK Beach area and the morning walkers at RK Beach, were left dejected due to police blocking the entire Beach Road stretch on Thursday to foil the protests and rallies.
The cops closed the Beach Road Stretch from Waltair to Coastal Battery for traffic and morning walkers from 6 am onwards.