Vijayawada: The Vijayawada One-Town police have arrested two persons in connection with a boat crash on Prakasam Barrage. Police have listed this as a suspected case of sabotage. Five boats from the upstream Krishna river drifted towards the Prakasam barrage and crashed into its pillars in the early hours of Sept 2. This damaged the barrage’s counterweight that the state government repaired on Monday.
The arrested were Vakkalagadda Ushadri and Komati Ram Mohan from Gollapudi and Surayapalem respectively in the NTR district.The two were shifted to the Vijayawada sub-jail and a magistrate court put them in judicial remand until Sept 20.
Based on a complaint filed by Irrigation executive engineer Krishna Rao, the One-Town police registered the case under sections 125 and 326(b) of the BNS Act.
Police said irrigation department suspected the crash to be an act of sabotage as no one came forward to claim ownership of the boats. During the investigation, the police found that three of the five boats that crashed into gate 69 belonged to the arrested individual Ushadri.
Meanwhile, a political slugfest erupted between the ruling TD and the opposition YSRC, accusing each other of having ties to the two arrested individuals. The TD alleged that Komati Ram Mohan and Ushadri were close associates of YSRC MLC Talasila Raghuram and former Bapatla MP Nandigam Suresh. TD released photos of the accused participating in YSRC meetings and events.
The YSRC released photos of the arrested Ushadri meeting minister Nara Lokesh. The party alleged that Komati Ram Mohan is related to TD NRI wing president Komati Jayaram. Police said a thorough investigation was under way to determine if more people were involved in the incident.
