The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Police restrictions irk Suri's followers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 29, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Police restrictions irk Suri's followers

By Our Staff Reporter

ANANTAPUR, MARCH 28. Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri, who is undergoing life imprisonment in the Jubilee Hills car bomb case, appeared cheerful when he was produced in court here today as a suspect in the Paritala Ravindra murder case.

His followers, who thronged the fringes of Court Road in spite of restrictions imposed by the police, cheered wildly at the sight of Suri.

Whistles and sounds of joy rent the air when he waved to them while coming out of the court and posing to lensmen.

Last visit in 1998

It is after a gap of over six years that Suri is `visiting' his native district. He last came to Anantapur in 1998 when the trial in the car bomb case was still in progress.

The restrictions imposed by the police disappointed the followers of Suri. A majority of them were prevented from entering the town on the outskirts itself by the police who had set up checkposts but some of them sneaked in on foot. Some of them had reached the town last night itself.

As the police tried to push Suri into the waiting vehicle while he was being brought out of the court, he got upset.

He refused to budge and waved to the crowd outside. His followers protested against police restrictions at the Tower Clock Circle and overbridge, which prevented them from entering Court Road.

Tight security

Suri was brought here with heavy security of 30 special policemen led by the DSP, Vasantha Rao, from Cherlapalli jail in Hyderabad on a "production warrant'' issued by the AJFCM Court on a petition moved by the CBI.

The convoy reached the town at around 12.45 a.m. He was kept in the lock-up of the Two Town police station just opposite the district courts complex till he was produced in the court.

The three vehicles in which Suri was brought special bore the same registration number - AP 9U-4536. The number, a laser printout, was pasted on the number plates of all three vehicles.

Lensmen protest

Mediapersons staged a dharna in front of the police station as they were prevented even from taking photographs of Suri when he was being taken inside the station.

The District Court Complex was completely taken over by the police who did not even allow clients (witnesses and suspects) of other cases to enter the complex. Only lawyers and employees of the court having identity were allowed in. It was sanitised for explosives by using metal detectors and sniffer dogs.

Remand extended

Meanwhile, the judicial custody of 12 suspects arrested by the CBI in the Paritala murder case was extended by another 14 days by the AJFCM Court here today. The incharge judge, A.V. Nelson Raj, extended their remand.

Meanwhile, no fresh clues were found in the re post-mortem conducted on the mortal remains of D. Mahabub Basha, the police constable who was killed along with Ravindra.

A team led by the head of the Forensic Medicine Department of Government Medical College, Kurnool, L.C. Obulesu, conducted the re post-mortem at the graveyard near H.L.C. Colony. The exercise was undertaken in the presence of a few family members of Mahabub Basha and the MRO of Anantapur rural mandal, Thirupal Shetty.

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