Guntur stampede: TDP leader arrested

It is alleged that he was trying to flee to Hyderabad after the incident occurred.

Guntur: Telugu Desam Party leader Vuyyuru Srinivas who was responsible for conducting a gift distribution programme here leading to three people losing lives in a stampede on Sunday, was taken into custody by the Andhra Pradesh police at Eluru Road in Vijayawada on Monday.

It is alleged that he was trying to flee to Hyderabad after the incident occurred.Three women were killed and many others, mostly women, were injured on Sunday when people rushed to receive Sankranti gifts leading to a stampede at the programme following a public meeting held by N Chandrababu Naidu.

---

A case has already been registered against Srinivas in the Guntur stampede incident under Sections 304 and 174 of the IPC at Nallapadu Police Station and his name appears as the A-1 in the case. A case has also been registered against Srinivasa Rao, the administrator of Vuyyuru Foundation under which the programme was conducted. Srinivas is the Managing Director of the foundation.

Health Minister Vidadala Rajani who visited the hospital where the injured were being treated, said that a woman died on the spot while two others succumbed to injuries while being shifted to a hospital.

According to reports, the TDP organisers started distributing gifts, including sarees for Sankranti, after giving token slips to the people. With no proper crowd management in place, the crowds who came in large numbers pushed the barricades away leading to a stampede.Expressing shock over the incident, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the government would stand by the families of the victims and also extended exgratia to the deceased.

It is also alleged that the TDP in luring people by conducting free gifts and money distribution programmes in the run up to the elections. The Guntur stampede comes just three days after the death of eight people during a similar incident in Kandukuru of Nellore district.