Diwakar Travels, one of the most popular private travel operators in Andhra Pradesh, will be wound up, at least for now, if not permanently.
This was announced by senior Telugu Desam Party leaders and former Anantapur MP J C Diwakar Reddy.
He told the reporters in Anantapur on Friday that he and his brother J C Prabhakar Reddy had taken the decision to close down the operations of Diwakar Travels, as it was difficult to run the business due to continued harassment by the police and Andhra Pradesh government.
For the last few weeks, the transport department has been serving notices on Diwakar Travels for alleged violation of Motor Vehicles Act and illegally running buses without valid permits.
More than 80 buses had been seized by the department in the last few weeks.
Diwakar Reddy alleged that the YSR Congress party government led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had been indulging in revenge politics for the last few months and the harassment has only been getting intensified with every passing day.
He said the officials in the transport department and also the police had been specifically targeting him and his brother.
“That is why we have decided to wind up the travel business at least for now. It is better not to run buses, instead of entering into confrontation with the government day in and day out,” he said.
Diwakar Reddy, however, did not rule out reviving the business in future.
“For now, we have to close down. But power is not permanent for any political party and we hope good days will come in future,” he said.