Jagan yatra sparks tension in Andhra Pradesh

Early Friday morning was deceptively calm. But by 10 am, Mahbubabad town in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh had turned into a virtual war-zone.

Defying a directive from the party leadership, Jagan Mohan Reddy set out for his proposed six-day "odarpu yatra" to console 77 families that had lost someone after the death of his father, YSR in a helicopter crash last year.

These were people in 72 villages in Warangal who either allegedly committed suicide or died of heart attack on hearing of the former Chief Minister's death.

Congress MP Jaganmohan Reddy has been taken into preventive custody after clashes between those for and against his proposed yatra in Warangal. The situation is tense and one person has reportedly been killed in firing.

Those opposing Jagan's yatra gathered in huge numbers at the railway station, determined to not let the yatra happen. The over 3000 policemen deployed to keep matters under control, looked far outnumbered.

The Intercity Express that Jagan boarded at Secunderabad to reach Mahbubabad was delayed by several hours, with rumours of a bomb being planted and railway lines being disrupted at several points on the route from Secunderabad to Mahbubabad. The train was stopped at Wanganpalli and from there the police took Jagan into preventive custody and are escorting him back to Hyderabad. (AFP photo)

In Mahbubabad, supporters of Konda Surekha who resigned as minister from the Rosaiah cabinet to express support for Jagan, clashed with pro-Telangana groups, who are opposing the Congress MP's yatra. One person was reportedly killed when a securityman of Konda Surekha fired.

Yesterday, a bomb was found abandoned a Mahbubabad market place, along with a note signed by the Telangana Liberation Army, warning of trouble if Jagan went ahead with his yatra.

The decision to stop Jagan was taken after a security review meeting that Chief Minister K Rosaiah held with home minister Sabita Indra Reddy and top police officers, after his return from a wedding in Nellore.

The Central leadership had explicitly asked Jagan not to undertake the yatra in a charged situation.

There were mild protests en route from pro-Telangana agitators but the Mahbubabad railway station turned out to be the main battle ground where the pro and anti-Jagan groups clashed. (AFP Photo)

Jaganmohan, after returning to Hyderabad, asked his followers to observe restraint and not to resort to violence even as reports came in from temple-town Tirupati that his supporters had set two bogies of Padmavathi Express on fire. (AFP photo)