Normalcy was restored at Tuni town in East Godavari district on Monday and train and road traffic resumed as the agitators agreed to clear the rail tracks and the National Highway (Kolkata-Chennai) late on Sunday night.
Ratnachal Express, an inter-city express from Visakhapatnam to Vijayawada, was set on fire near the Tuni railway station on Sunday afternoon, as the agitation for inclusion of the Kapu caste in the BC list turned violent. Kapu garjana — a protest meeting — was held at Tuni under the leadership of senior Kapu leader M. Padmanabham. He gave a call for a rail and road blockade to press the demand. Violence erupted in the town. Train traffic on the Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam section was affected and 15 trains were stopped at different stations.
Ratnachal Express was completely gutted in the incident and two police stations — Tuni rural police station as well as the urban one — were attacked by the agitators. Several policemen were injured in the incidents, one or two of them are in a critical condition, according to the police sources.
M. Padmanabham agreed late on Sunday night to withdraw the road and rail blockade in response to the request of the authorities, but he said the agitation for the inclusion of the Kapu caste in the BC list would continue and he would undertake an indefinite fast if the State Government did not issue a GO including the Kapus in the BC list by Monday night.
Additional police forces have been sent to Tuni to bring the situation under control.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Sunday night his Government was committed to fulfilling the promise made by his party before the 2014 elections that Kapus would be included in the BC list. "We are committed to it and are taking the necessary preliminary steps for keeping the promise. We have appointed a committee to go into the issue and on its recommendations we will proceed further. Meanwhile, anti-social elements are inciting the Kapus and creating such a situation. The Congress and YSR Congress should take the blame for it, as their leaders have attended the meeting," he said.