The Andhra Pradesh High Court has imposed restrictions on the movements of Macherla YCP MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy, who has obtained interim bail. It restricted him from visiting Macherla on the, but mentioned that he may go to the counting center at Narasaraopet. Moreover, he should have remained in Narasaraopet Lok Sabha constituency headquarters only till June 6th.
The High Court directed him not to talk to the media about the case and also restricted him talking with witnesses. It asked the Chief Electoral Officer and the police to keep vigil on his movements. The High Court, which granted him interim bail on Thursday, released the copy of the order only on Friday evening.
After the EC ordered the arrest of MLA Pinnelli in the EVM vandalism case, he filed a lunch motion petition in the High Court seeking anticipatory bail on Thursday. The High Court took up the hearing on this petition. In this regard, it has issued orders not to take any action against Pinnelli till June 6.
The High Court also granted similar bail orders to other contesting candidates, who approached fearing arrest in poll- related violence cases. But before approaching the High Court, the police were alerted with the speculation that Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy would surrender and laid siege to the court premises in Narasaraopet.
Pinnelli’s driver and gunman have already been detained in Hyderabad. 8 special police teams have launched a search for Pinnelli. However, Pinnelli could not be caught.
The EC, already enraged by the Macherla EVM vandalism incident, ordered the immediate arrest of Pinnelli. As per the orders of the EC, the AP Police has launched a search operation for him in many areas including Hyderabad.
AP CEO MK Meena revealed that cases have been registered against Pinnelli under ten sections. He seems to have got some relief with the High Court’s verdict on the recent anticipatory bail petition.