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Andhra Pradesh: 2 officials seize pvt car for ‘CM convoy’, suspended
An official spokesman from the chief minister’s office (CMO) said home guard P Tirupal Reddy and assistant motor vehicle inspector A Sandhya were suspended, following instructions from the Andhra chief minister, who quickly reacted to the media reports on Thursday morning about the cops seizing the car of a family.
A home guard and an assistant motor vehicle inspector from Ongole town in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district were on Thursday suspended for allegedly taking away the vehicle of a family travelling to Tirupati late on Wednesday night on the pretext that it was required for the convoy of chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday.
An official spokesman from the chief minister’s office (CMO) said home guard P Tirupal Reddy and assistant motor vehicle inspector A Sandhya were suspended, following instructions from the chief minister, who quickly reacted to the media reports on Thursday morning about the cops seizing the car of a family.
The incident happened at around 11 pm on Wednesday when Vemula Srinivas, a resident of Vinukonda of Palnadu district, was travelling to Tirupati in his Toyota Innova car with his family, including two women and two children stopped at a roadside hotel in Ongole town for a quick meal.
“As we got down from the vehicle, a constable came to us and asked us to hand over the vehicle along with the driver, as they required it for the convoy of the chief minister who is scheduled to visit Ongole on Friday. He did not heed to their appeal that they were going to Tirupati on a pilgrimage,” Srinivas told the local reporters.
However, the constable did not heed to Srinivas’ pleas. “I told him that we have no place to go at such late hours along with two women and children. But he said he was helpless, as he had to follow the orders of higher officials,” he said, adding that the constable took away the car along with the driver, saying he would return it once the chief minister’s programme was over.
Srinivas and his family members were left stranded on the road, and he had to make frantic calls to his friends to make alternative arrangements. After spending a few hours at the RTC bus stand at Ongole, he returned to Vinukonda in another vehicle arranged by his friends.
When the local media flashed the report early on Thursday, the CMO reacted immediately. An official release from the CMO said the chief minister had taken serious note of the incident and ordered action against erring officials who forcibly took away the cab with the driver.
Jagan said strict action would be taken against officials if they trouble people for the convoy. “This kind of measure will not be tolerated, especially when people are in trouble,” the official note quoting the chief minister said.
Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu described the incident as ‘atrocious’. “It clearly shows how the people have been suffering in the anarchic regime for the last three years,” he said in a statement.
He demanded that the government explain whether the state’s financial position was so bad that it was not able to arrange a car of its own for the CM convoy.
Jana Sena Party chief and actor Pawan Kalyan also wondered how the officials snatched away the vehicle for the chief minister’s convoy. “Can’t the government arrange vehicles of its own to the convoy?” he asked.
