Guntur: Activists of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) gave a jolt to the police by following “guerrilla technique” by coming onto the highway every two hours on Friday.
The MRPS and police department had made Madigala Kurukshetra meeting a prestige issue, with the police taking nearly 600 MRPS leaders and activists into preventive custody. The cops mainly concentrated around Bible Mission Grounds in front of Acharya Nagarjuna University and in pickets that could possibly be hiding places for MRPS leaders and activists. Activists came onto the highway once every two-three hours.
Nearly 2,000 MRPS activists, who were hiding in farmlands in nearby villages and near a prayer hall, suddenly came onto the Vijayawada-Chennai national highway-16, giving a shock to the police. They then started toward the Bible Mission Ground.
Police immediately pressed extra teams into action and tried to forcefully send them back. Angry activists squatted on the highway at Kaza tollgate which stopped traffic moving towards Chennai and Vijayawada, causing inconvenience to the public.
MRPS activists stated that they had taken shelters in nearby villages and absence of police surveillance gave them the upper hand. They took shelter in farmlands on the either sides of Vijayawada-Chennai national highway from Mangalagiri to Chinna Kakani on Friday.
A group of nearly 2,000 MRPS activists had taken shelter near Peda Kakani, a famous church, as devotees and came onto the roads in the evening.
Police forcefully tried to send back protesters at 4 pm at Chinna Kakani, but they outnumbered the cops and reached Kaza tollgate.
MRPS protesters broke the cabin of the tollgate in anger. Guntur rural SP Ch. Vnekata Appala Naidu stopped the protesters, but they squatted on the road. Police managed to restore traffic at 6 pm. But, suddenly another group of MRPS activists came onto the road at Kantheru cross road and set a lorry on fire. Fire extinguishers rushed to the spot and doused the flames.
The police resorted to lathi charge in which one MRPS activist was reportedly injured and he was rushed to GGH Guntur for treatment. The police teams started searches in the farmlands and in the adjacent villages to restrain MRPS protests.
