Naidu refuses bail, says will either visit dam site or stay jailed

AURANGABAD: TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and other party leaders were sent to two days' judicial custody by a Dharmabad court in Nanded district of Maharastra on Saturday after they refused to seek bail.

However, Nanded SP Sandeep Karnik told TOI, if the TDP leaders sign personal bonds and submit them to the police, as instructed by the court, they will be released forthwith. "But they have not yet furnished the personal bonds," he added.

Nanded additional collector Ajay Gulhane, said the ITI campus, where the TDP leaders have been kept after their arrest, has been declared a prison for men and the government rest house for women TDP members.

Dharmabad chief judicial magistrate Deepak Mata on Saturday sent Naidu and 65 others, including two MPs and 43 MLAs, to judicial custody till July 19.

The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister was arrested along with his supporters for violating prohibitory orders in Maharashtra's Nanded on Friday. They were planning to visit the Babhali barrage irrigation project in Dharmabad for an "inspection".

Earlier, after hours of high drama, state officials requested the Dharmabad court to move to the ITI campus to conduct the hearing. Following this, the court was set up on the ITI premises.

Around 11 am on Saturday, Naidu was to be taken to the Dharmabad court, where he was expected to seek bail. He, however, refused to move out of the ITI campus, insisting that he be allowed to visit the Babhali barrage site or sent to jail.