Nashik jail for Naidu after he refuses bail

TDP chief and 75 other party leaders tried to enter the Maharashtra boundary violating prohibitory orders.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu and 75 other party leaders who on Friday tried to enter the Maharashtra boundary violating prohibitory orders imposed by the district collector,to visit the controversial Babli Project,refused to apply for bail on Saturday.

A court sent them to 14-day judicial custody and the Nanded police are set to shift Naidu to Nashik Central Jail,as Nanded jail doesnt match the criteria set for high-profile leaders.

The former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and 75 TDP leaders,including MPs,state legislators and former ministers,spent Friday night at Dharmabad Industrial Training Institute (ITI) and refused to leave Maharashtra until they are allowed to inspect the Babli irrigation project on the Godavari.

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On Saturday,Nanded Range Inspector General,the Superintendent of Police and Dy. SP tried to convince Naidu. However,Naidu remained firm on the demand that they be allowed to visit the project site. After failing to change their minds,the Maharashtra police registered cases against the TDP leaders under Sections 135,143 and 188 of the IPC,which makes them liable to even a jail term.

The state police brought the local district magistrate to ITI campus,where the arrested leaders were lodged. They were produced in groups of five before the magistrate who asked the TDP leaders to return to Andhra Pradesh immediately and offered bail.

However,they all refused and asserted they would return only after inspecting the project. As all 75 TDP leaders and workers refused to accept bail,it made it necessary to shift them to jail. Nanded jails are full,and do not match the required criteria to keep high-profile people like Naidu and former Andhra Home Minister T Devender Goud. Both have Z plus security and as per laws,can be housed in A-plus standard jails,a senior police officer told The Sunday Express. Only two jails in the state,the Nashik Jail and Yerwada Jail in Pune match these standards. After discussion,police decided to shift Naidu,Goud and some other high-profile leaders to Nashik Central Jail and others to Aurangabad Central Jail. There was high security for the shifting. Special vans,ambulances and fire-brigade vans were called to accompany the convoy expected to leave Nanded shortly before midnight,sources said.

Meanwhile,Nanded MP Bhaskar Patil Khatgaonkar on Saturday slammed Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu for agitating against the Babli irrigation project.