Chittoor MLA surrenders his gunmen, later withdraws decision

Tirupati: Chittoor TDP legislator Gurajala Jagan Mohan has withdrawn his decision to surrender his gunmen amidst criticism from various quarters over the alleged assault on a woman resource person by his followers and the sequence of events that unfolded after the attack.A middle-aged Dalit woman, identified as Kavitha who works with the MEPMA wing of Chittoor municipal corporation, was attacked by a group, who are said to be followers of Jagan Mohan. Following the incident, Chittoor district collector Sumit Kumar directed civic authorities to lodge a formal complaint and get a police case registered. The woman also reached out to Chittoor MP Daggumalla Prasad Rao, who spoke to the district collector and SP Tushar Dudi and asked them to initiate legal action against the accused and render justice to the Dalit woman.Following a preliminary investigation, Chittoor I Town police booked several persons involved in the attack under the SC-ST Atrocities Act on Friday. Jagan Mohan, who was reportedly unhappy after cases were booked on his followers, surrendered his two gunmen and asked them to report at the AR headquarters in Chittoor. However, after the party leadership also expressed displeasure over the sequence of events, the Chittoor legislator decided to withdraw his decision to surrender his gunmen. Speaking to STOI, he said he first decided to surrender his gunmen owing to a "minor issue" but changed his mind after the issue was "amicably resolved".