The police took into custody six Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLAs, who included party State president K. Atchannaidu, when they tried to march towards the Prohibition and Excise (P&E) Commissioner’s Office, at Prasadampadu, near here, on Wednesday.
The party had earlier given a call to lay a siege to the commissioner’s office in protest against the “death of 27 persons after consumption of spurious liquor at Jangareddygudem in West Godavari district between March 6 and 15.”
The police prevented the TDP leaders from entering the commissioner’s office along with their followers.
The opposition party leaders entered into an argument with the police for “intercepting” them when they were heading to the office to submit a representation to the Excise Commissioner.
The activists, carrying placards, raised slogans against the government and demanded steps to check availability of cheap liquor in the State.
The police later took the MLAs into custody and shifted them to the Unguturu police station. A few party leaders and activists were shifted to the Kankipadu police station.
Deputy Commissioner of Police V. Harshavardhan Raju said the police would have allowed the MLAs to meet the Excise Commissioner had they come without their followers.
As many protesters came to the office, the police took them into custody as a preventive measure, Mr. Raju added.
