Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y. S. Sharmila, along with around 40 party leaders and cadres, was detained near Kondaveeti Vagu lift pumping scheme (near Vijayawada) in Guntur district while she was on her way to the Secretariat as part of the “Chalo Secretariat” protest call given by the party to highlight the plight of the unemployed youth in the State, on February 22 (Thursday).
A large posse of police deployed at the place to thwart the protest, swooped on Ms. Sharmila and others and shifted them to the Mangalagiri town police station. They were released after two hours.
Speaking to media persons outside the police station, Ms. Sharmila denounced use of police force “to thwart the Congress protest”. She said the police had started detaining Congress leaders and cadres across the State from Wednesday afternoon to prevent them from participating in the proposed protest, to highlight the government failure to keep its promise made to the youth in the State.
