Vijayawada: A car was forcibly taken away from a family to use it in the Chief Minister convoy trail run when the family was going to Tirumala on a pilgrimage, at Ongole on Wednesday night.
The officials suspended Assistant MVI and a home guard in this connection.
Vemala Srinivas was going to hill shrine Tirumala along with his five family members from Vinukonda. He entered Ongole town at 10 pm last night to have dinner in a hotel. When they parked their car in front of the hotel, a constable took the car forcibly along with the car driver, Vemula Srinivas told the media.
Srinivas said that the constable told him that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is visiting Ongole on April 22 and they were conducting a convoy run. The constable insisted Srinivas to give his car and also the driver to take part in the convoy trail run. Though he stated that he was going to Tirumala along with family, the constable forcibly took his Innova car leaving the family on the road, he said.
Srinivas informed the matter to his relative who sent another car for him and he left for Tirumala on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, according to official sources, Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed anger over the officials for forcefully taking away the car from a family.
Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspector M Sandya and Home guard P Tirupati Reddy were suspended by the officials.
Responding to the incident, Telugu Desam Party National President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday termed as 'atrocious' the snatching away of a family's car by the RTA officials for use in the convoy of the Chief Minister.
Naidu said the forcible taking away of the car by the officials in Ongole once again exposed how the anarchic regime was afflicting the people of the state in the past three years.
In a statement here, the TDP chief said it was unpardonable on the part of the RTA officials to cause suffering to Vinukonda resident Vemula Srinivas and his family. They were on their way from Vinukonda to Tirumala for a pilgrimage when their car was taken away.
The former Chief Minister said the officials atrociously forced the family to alight from the car on the road and then drove it away in the name of the Chief Minister convoy.
He demanded the YSRCP Government to explain whether the state economy had slipped into such a pitiable state that it was not able to arrange a car of its own resources for the CM's convoy.
Naidu called it 'shameful' on the part of the state government to shut down shops during the Chief Minister's visits and forcibly taking away the cars of people for the CM convoy. (UNI)
