BRS' Karimnagar Bandh Receives Mixed Response

The bandh call for today given by the BRS in Karimnagar to protest against an alleged attack by BJP activists on the local MLA's camp office received a mixed response.

The BJP had questioned what connection the people of Karimnagar had with the "BRS-sponsored shutdown" and warned the party that it would attempt to obstruct the bandh.

The Congress stated that the clashes between the BJP and the BRS were purely an internal matter between the two parties.

Amid all these stances, tension prevailed in Karimnagar. The police were deployed in large numbers across the town and arrested BRS activists at various locations. BRS cadres were arrested early in the morning and shifted to police stations.

BRS local MLA Gangula Kamalakar was placed under house arrest at his residence. Police personnel, who had been deployed outside Gangula Kamalakar's residence since the morning, later arrested him and shifted him to the LMD police station.

Choppadandi MLA Sunke Ravishankar, who had set out from Burugupalli to participate in the Karimnagar bandh, was intercepted by the police en route. He was taken into custody, escorted back to his residence in Burugupalli, and placed under house arrest.

Former Mayor Ravinder Singh, BRS city president Challa Harishankar, and several others were also taken into police custody.

Several business and trade associations in the city voluntarily observed the bandh. Commercial establishments in many parts of the city remained closed.