#AP Demands Special Status: Arrests continue

Several parties including main opposition YSR Congress Party, the Congress, the Left parties, student groups and many celebrities declared their support to the protest to put pressure on the central government to accord the special status for AP.

The YSR Congress Party also plans to hold a candle light protest at RK Beach on Thursday evening.

Members of the opposition YSR Congress Party were arrested in different parts of the city since late Wednesday.

The move comes hours after orders were imposed banning assembly of five or more persons in the limits of all 23 police stations in and around the city.

The police said there was no permission for any meeting, rally or procession.

YSR Congress leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy has announced he will lead the protest.

The police at Parvada on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam stopped the escort vehicle and 23 security personnel of the leader of opposition from entering the city.

YS Jagan, who hoisted the national flag at the party office in Hyderabad to mark the Republic Day, alleged that the TDP government in Andhra Pradesh was using undemocratic means to suppress the peaceful protest.

Activists of opposition parties, youths and students staged protests in Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirupati, Nellore, Anantapur and other places across the state.

Police arrested protesters at Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada.