Maoists are not in jail to attack Naidu: Home Minister Vanita

Visakhapatnam: Home Minister Taneti Vanita has dismissed fears of a security threat from Maoist inmates to Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu in the Rajahmundry Central Jail.

Talking to the media here after attending a national meeting of jail department heads on Tuesday, she said jails lodge criminals of all kinds and even the Maoists. “They were not specially brought to the jail to harm Chandrababu.”

“The Maoists in the central jail are reforming. They pose no threat. They were kept a distance away from Naidu’s special block where full security has been provided,’’ the home minister said.

She said the jail has full CCTV camera reach. “There is a constant watch on his block. Even visitors are being scanned and allowed in only after Chandrababu agreed to meet them.”

Asked whether the CID was prompted by the YSRC government to arrest Naidu, she said the CID did its work in a meticulous manner and was still collecting the documents related to the skill development corporation scam.

Asked on Nandamuri Balakrishna’s threat to launch state-wide protests, she said they have every right to protest but must abide by law and avoid causing any harm to public property. There are instances when police personnel were attacked with stones. Nara Lokesh, Pawan Kalyan and Balakrishna are trying to draw sympathy for Naidu and provoke innocent people into violence, she said.