The YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh has strongly defended the measures taken by the police department in safeguarding law and order in Amaravati while dealing with the agitation by the farmers.
Advocate General Subrahmanyam Sriram put forth his argument on behalf of the police in the state high court which was hearing a petition filed by the farmers of Amaravati over the police excesses and imposition of Section 144 in the capital region.
The high court, which also took suo motu cognizance of the media reports including the photographs published in the media and videos telecast in the channels, questioned as to how the police behaved so brutally with agitating women.
The judge also pulled up the police for conducting march past in the villages to create a terror atmosphere.
The advocate general, however, submitted that the government had submitted a detailed dossier with comments and videos in response to the photographs submitted by the petitioners. He gave an explanation to each and every photograph.
While judges questioned the advocate general about a few photographs which showed aggression by the police, he replied that the pictures could not be viewed in isolation and would have to be seen in the context of the videos. A few photographs morphed and fake photos were also submitted, he pointed out.
The AG also defended that the march past in Mandadam village, saying it was permitted under AP police manual.
“Nowhere any peaceful protest was disturbed. However, on January 10, an orchestrated attempt was made to converge at Benz Circle in Vijayawada which disrupted normal life and hence police had intervened,” he explained.