VIJAYAWADA : The four political activists who were arrested by the city police under the Preventive Detention Act in the early hours of Saturday will have to wait for the judgement to be pronounced by an advisory board in three months to come out of prison.

Congress sympathiser Vangaveeti Santan Kumar and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Katragadda Nagamalleswara Rao alias Babu, who were among the four picked up by the City Police and sent to the Central Prison at Rajahmundry, have no scope to come out of the jail on bail. As per the provisions applicable to cases under the PD Act, in case the advisory board is not satisfied with the version of the accused, the imprisonment would continue for a year.

Besides Santan Kumar and Babu, the police invoked the Act against Babu's associates Musunuri Srinu and Chunduri Koteswara Rao. Cases were registered against them on the charge of making an attempt to kill Santan Kumar. All were taken into police custody from their houses. The special operation began around 11.30 p.m. on Friday and continued for more than two hours.

Old rivalry

The police said they had credible information that there was every chance of tensions flaring up in the city due to the long-standing rivalry between Santan Kumar and Babu. Hence, they had taken permission from the higher-ups to arrest the duo under the provisions of the PD Act. Since the police suspected that Srinu and Koteswara Rao could play a key role in the event of any clash, they too were sent behind the bars.

City Police Commissioner C.V. Anand said they had credible information about the movement of the arrested persons. "We have prevented a major group clash by arresting these four persons under the PD Act," he said.

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