In a shocking incident, the houses of Andhra Pradesh minister Pinipe Viswarup and MLA Ponnada Satish were set on fire in Amalapuram town on Tuesday by protestors during a demonstration against the renaming of the newly created Konaseema district to BR Ambedkar Konaseema district.
However, the police have taken the Minister’s family to a safe location before the house was set on fire. As per reports, a police vehicle and a bus were also set on fire.
For the unversed, Viswarup holds the transport portfolio. He is the MLA from Amalapuram, an Scheduled Castes reserved constituency.
Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Taneti Vanitha revealed that over 20 police personnel sustained injuries in the incident. “We will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and bring the culprits to book,” she said.
Responding to this, Minister Pinipe Viswarup said, “It is unfortunate that my house was set on fire. These are conspiracies by the opposition for political purposes. It is not right to oppose the name of Ambedkar for the district. Everyone should be proud of naming him. Everyone should exercise restraint.”