Yuvagalam volunteers remanded, sent to jail for stone pelting in Bhimavaram

BHIMAVARAM: The Second Additional Junior Civil cum First Class Magistrate Court in Bhimavaram remanded 38 Yuvagalam volunteers for 14 days of judicial custody and sent them to Rajamahendravaram central jail for their involvement in an incident of stone pelting. The orders came during the wee hours of Thursday.

The Bhimavaram police arrested 50 Yuvagalam volunteers and filed three FIRs against 14 leaders, including former TDP MLA Chintamaneni Prabhakar and West Godavari TDP president Thota Sitaramalakshmi among 38 other volunteers. Three people were sent to the Government hospital for medical reasons.

However, counsel for the accused, Posani Venkateswarlu, argued that cases were slapped on the victims and those who were not present during the alleged stone-pelting incidents.

Following the incidents of stone pelting that occurred during the Yuvagalam yatra of TDP leader Nara Lokesh on Tuesday when the walkathon reached Bhimavaram, police rounded up the volunteers from the campsite where they were staying and presented them before the court. Nara Lokesh accused the YSRCP workers of the clashes and alleged that police took no action on the perpetrators.