AP Police relieved after CM's Bhimavaram visit passes off eventless

Andhra Pradesh police at Bhimavaram in West Godavari district heaved a sigh of relief after Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's visit concluded without any untoward event on Saturday.

Police had some anxious moments on the eve of Reddy's visit after an unexplained explosion took place on the outskirts of the town.

"We have taken the samples, it is a local thing (blast) from the scrap shop to ascertain how it occurred and what happened," West Godavari superintendent of police (SP) Rahul Dev Sharma told IANS.

Sharma said police can get an understanding once the reports come as to what actually happened.


On Friday evening, a blast occurred in a scrapyard in the outskirts of the town, forcing police to run helter-skelter considering the CM's visit in less than 24 hours.

Incidentally, a cow got injured in the blast where discarded electronic appliances were lying.

Besides this, another blast also occurred on the same Undi road when a chemical tanker was being welded without following the standard operating procedures.


"That person had not done welding properly. Without opening the vent he was welding, that's why a lot of smoke came in and with the build-up of pressure it blew off," said the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

The second blast occurred around 10.45 p.m., resulting in the tanker's door getting blown off and falling on nearby power lines, leading to a local blackout.

Fortunately, both of the blasts were some random unexpected events which did not pose any threat to Reddy's visit.


On Saturday morning, Reddy flew in to Bhimavaram to attend the wedding of Unguturu MLA Puppala Vasu Babu's daughter.

He flew back to Amaravati after blessing the newly married couple.-IANS