2016 Kapu quota agitation | Vijayawada railway court summons 40 in Tuni arson case

The Metropolitan Magistrate Court (Railway Court) served summons on 40 persons reportedly involved in the arson at the Tuni railway station in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh in January 2016.

The suspects, including Kapu Sangham leaders, were directed to appear in the court on March 2. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) registered the case on the incident in which a few railway staff were injured.

Kapu leader and present Tuni MLA Dadisetti Ramalingeswara Rao (Raja), former Minister and Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham and many other leaders organised Kapu Gharjana Sabha in the town on January 31, 2016, demanding BC reservation for the Kapu community.

The agitators suddenly squatted on the tracks, stopped the Ratnachal Express between Tuni and Hamsavaram stations and threw stones at the train. When the panicked passengers alighted from the train, the mob climbed on it and set some coaches on fire.

Later, they set afire the police station, damaged the furniture and attacked the police and railway staff. The activists torched a few police vehicles. With the Kapu meeting and the protest turning violent, thousands of people who attended the meeting, local residents and the railway personnel ran helter-skelter to protect themselves.

Additional police forces from Rajamahendravaram, Visakhapatnam and Kakinada were rushed to Tuni. The Government Railway Police and RPF personnel registered cases against the accused.