Irate Congress workers go on rampage, bandh in many parts

Even as angry Congress supporters and frenzied followers of late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy went on a rampage across Andhra Pradesh targeting the showrooms, offices and other properties of the Ambani Brothers -- Anil and Mukesh -- Congress leaders have given a bandh call in Kadapa, Anantapur, Kurnool, Warangal, Khammam and Guntur districts.

Many other Congress leaders from other districts too have been demanding a bandh call.

Violence was triggered after a few television channels claimed that a report on a Russian website had allegedly linked the death of YSR to the Anil Ambani group.

The channels based their story on an unsubstantiated news reports published by exiledonline.com.

The little known website in its report, which was reportedly published a day after the YSR's death on September 2, 2009, had alleged that the Ambani brothers were linked to the crash. However, there were no explanations as to why the report had come out in the open after four months of the crash.

Following this, a couple of other Telugu news channels, including Sakshi TV owned by YSR's son Jagan Mohan Reddy, also started airing the same news even as the website itself became inaccessible.

In a statement Jagan said, "I'm shocked to learn that there could be a foul play behind the death of my father Rajasekhara Reddy" and appealed to Congress supporters to not resort to vandalism.

He said he would ask the central government to inquire if there had been any sabotage and conspiracy behind the helicopter crash.

"But violence and destruction is not the solution to the problem," he said.

The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation cancelled bus services including long route services after the buses came under attack from Congress activists in some districts.

Anil Ambani's Reliance Communication was the worst sufferer in the rampage, as over two dozen cell towers of the company were burnt or damaged at Anantapur, Adilababad, East Godavari and Visakhapatanam districts.

Outlets, showrooms and offices of Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart, Reliance Insurance and Reliance DTH were also targeted by the mobs.

Hundreds of Congress workers, especially supporters of YSR and Jagan, crowded the major roads in towns and cities shouting slogans and burning effigies of the Ambani brothers.

Additional police force was being rushed to all the trouble spots.

Though several agencies, including Director General of Civil Aviation, an expert's committee and the Central Bureau of Investigation, have been inquiring into the causes of the crash of the Bell-430 helicopter that carried the late chief minister and four others on September 2, no concrete report has been submitted yet.

With PTI inputs

Image: A Reliance Fresh outlet at Koktapally after it was attacked by a mob | Photograph: SnapsIndia