Naidu’s judicial custody extended till July 26

NANDED/HYDERABAD - A magistrate in Maharashtra’s Nanded district Monday extended the judicial custody of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N.Chandrababu Naidu and 74 other party leaders till July 26 after they again rejected his suggestion to seek bail and return to Andhra Pradesh.

The Dharmabad magistrate called the leaders at Dharmabad ITI as their two-day judicial custody came to an end.

The magistrate extended the custody of the TDP leaders by a week and they are likely to be shifted to Aurangabad Jail later.

“A decision on where they will be kept or when they will be shifted from here is not yet taken,” a Maharastra Police official told IANS.

Naidu told the magistrate that they were illegally arrested by Maharashtra Police in Andhra Pradesh territory.

According to TDP sources here, the party chief said they were not terrorists and had not committed any crime. He made it clear that they would not return without visiting the Babli project being built by Maharashtra across the Godavari River.

Meanwhile, the condition of at least five TDP leaders deteriorated during the day-long hunger strike to demand that the Maharashtra government allow them to visit the Babli dam.

The condition of Abdul Gani, legislator from Hindupur, is stated to be serious and he had to administered saline.

Naidu and his supporters, including MPs and legislators, were arrested Friday when they tried to proceed towards the dam, which they alleged Maharashtra is building illegally and would deprive Andhra Pradesh of its due share of Godavari waters.

The magistrate Saturday sent the TDP leaders to judicial custody after they refused to seek bail. The leaders, who spent the third night in Dharmabad ITI, have vowed not to return without visiting the Babli project.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has rejected their demand, saying this would create law and order problems. He also directed the police to deal with TDP leaders as per the law.

Chavan held an emergency meeting of a high-power committee in Mumbai to take stock of the situation arising out of Naidu’s arrest. The meeting decided not to compromise the interests of Maharashtra.

The issue rocked Maharashtra legislature with members cutting across party lines demanding action against Naidu and other TDP leaders.

Various groups in Maharashtra fighting for the protection of Babli have called for a Nanded shutdown to protest against TDP.

In Hyderabad, Chief Minister K. Rosaiah also held a meeting with his cabinet colleagues to discuss the issue.

Earlier, Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy advised TDP leaders to come out on bail.