An ex-Army man, who is now running an academy training aspiring recruits, was apprehended on Saturday by police for allegedly being the mastermind behind Friday’s violence in Secunderabad railway station over the Agnipath scheme of recruitment in armed forces, which saw violence and arson, besides one person being killed in police firing.
The suspect Avula Subba Rao hails from Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh and has been running the training academy in Narsaraopet, Hyderabad and other places for the past few years.
Highly-placed police sources said Rao has been picked up for questioning in relation to the Secunderabad railway station incidents wherein one youth was killed and several others injured on Friday.
"We will come out with full details soon as we are trying to establish the facts," the sources said.
Meanwhile, at several places in the state, youth led by the left-affiliated students and youth organisations tried to stage protests against the Agnipath scheme but police foiled the attempts.
The protestors were detained in places like Adoni, Kurnool, Guntur, Nellore, Amadalavalasa, Visakhapatnam and Yalamanchili.
State Director General of Police K V Rajendranath Reddy said that they have taken a lot of persons into preventive custody.
"We have deployed adequate security forces at railway stations, bus stations and other vital installations to prevent any untoward incidents. No incidents have been reported in the state and the situation is under control," the DGP said.
Meanwhile, a 70-year-old man from Odisha died of heart attack as he could not reach Visakhapatnam in time for medical treatment after the train he was travelling in was detained in Vizianagaram district.
The Korba-Visakhapatnam Express was detained in Kothavalasa due to the disruption caused in train services in the aftermath of the Secunderabad violence.
Jogesh Behara was being taken by his family to Visakhapatnam for treatment for his heart problem. As there was no way they could reach Visakhapatnam in time, the family, with the help of local police, took him to a private hospital in Kothavalasa where he succumbed.
The railways senior divisional commercial manager A K Tripathi said several trains were cancelled on Saturday and Sunday "as per the security inputs in view of suspected agitation at Visakhapatnam railway station".
The Shalimar-Secunderabad East Coast Express, Visakhapatnam-Guntur Simhadri Express, Kakinada-Visakhapatnam MEMU, Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Express have been cancelled in both directions, he said in a release.
(With PTI inputs)
