Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed his anger over the issuance of orders allowing an appeal against the verdict given by the Vijayawada Railway Court in the Tuni train burning case. He lashed out at the Home Ministry officials, saying that they would act so mechanically and negligently regarding a very sensitive issue.
He questioned how they would issue orders on their own without bringing such issues to the attention of the CMO. He ordered that those responsible for this be identified.
As soon as Chandrababu came to know that the Home Ministry had issued an order allowing an appeal in the Tuni train burning case, he immediately resorted to damage control measures. He instructed the CMO officials to identify who was responsible for this and the level of negligence and carelessness with which this had happened.
The Chief Minister directed that the orders given allowing an appeal should be withdrawn immediately, stating that such actions would not be ignored. As the CM was angered, the Home Ministry officials withdrew the orders given allowing an appeal. Home Ministry Principal Secretary Kumar Vishwajit issued orders to this effect.
The Tuni train burning incident that took place in the past during the Chandrababu Naidu government in AP had created a huge stir. The then former minister Mudragada Padmanabham had called for the movement demanding five percent reservation in education and jobs for Kapus.
On January 31, 2016, during the Kapu reservation movement, some people set the Ratnachal Express on fire at Tuni. The Railway Police had registered a case at that time in this incident. However, the Vijayawada Railway Court had dismissed the case on the 1st of last month, stating that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials had failed to show proper evidence to prove the crime and that the investigation had not been carried out properly.
The Home Ministry on Monday issued orders allowing the Public Prosecutor to appeal against this verdict in the High Court based on the proposals received from the RPF Senior Divisional Security Commissioner. Taking this seriously, CM Chandrababu Naidu ordered the withdrawal of those orders, and withdrew them.
The Home Ministry has issued orders to immediately cancel the orders to appeal the Tuni case in the High Court. The government has inquired into the level of approval with which the file was processed. It has found that the orders were issued based on the proposals made by the RPG Senior Divisional Security Commissioner on the case.
