YSRCP Workers Attacked Police Officer in Andhra Pradesh? No, Claim is False!

The SP of Tirupati district told The Quint that the person who attacked the police officer was mentally unstable.

A video showing a man beating a man dressed in a police uniform, with a log is being shared on social media platforms.

The claim: Those sharing wrote that the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) workers had attacked a police constable in Guduru, Andhra Pradesh. They also wrote that there was no protection for the police

This post recorded 86.5K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: No, the claim is false.

• The person who attacked the police officer was mentally unstable. He was from West Bengal, as told to us by the Tirupati police. He was later arrested.

• According to news reports, they noted that the attacker was identified as one Laltu Kalindi, who experienced "psychotic episodes" upon seeing uniformed policemen.

What we found: We ran a relevant keyword search using words such as "police officer beaten in Guduru" and found several news reports.

• According to a report by TV9 Telugu from 19 July, a mentally unstable man attacked the head constable of the Gudur rural police station with a stick. The constable's name was Swami Das.

• The attacker, Laltu Kalindi, was from West Bengal and experienced psychotic episodes upon seeing uniformed policemen, according to the report.

• The same incident was covered by the Deccan Chronicle. It was reported that the police officer experienced severe injuries on his head and was shifted to Tirupati district for advanced treatment from Gudur Area Hospital.

• Similarly, 10TV Telugu also reported on this incident on 19 July.

Police's response: The Quint contacted the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Tirupati district, L Subbarayudu, who confirmed to us that no political parties were involved in the incident.

• The SP told us that a person from West Bengal, who had a mental disorder, attacked the Gudur rural police station's head constable with a stick when he stepped down from his bicycle to take water at a local shop. He also mentioned that the attacker had been arrested.

Conclusion: The video of a man attacking a police officer in Gudur, Andhra Pradesh, is being shared with the false claim that it was done by members of the YSRCP.

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