Amaravati: After a midnight arrest of former TDP MLA Chintamaneni Prabhakar, party supremo and Andhra Pradesh’s former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said that the YSRCP-led government is perpetrating a ‘police raj’ in the state.

In a letter to Andhra Pradesh Director-General of Police Gautam Sawang, Naidu urged to withdraw all false cases and fake arrests made against the TDP leaders to prove the unbiased functioning of the police force in the state.

Describing the former Denduluru MLA’s arrest as ‘unlawful’ and ‘unconstitutional’, Naidu said the police force should focus on bringing down the crime rate by preventing atrocities, rapes, murders instead of targeting the TDP leaders.

Prabhakar was held in Vishakapatnam on late Sunday night and was handed over to West Godavari police. A case under IPC Section 353, assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, was pending against him, The Hindu reported.

On August 28, Prabhakar had protested against the unmindful hike of petrol and diesel prices and met Tahsildar in Denduluru to submit representation.

“Prabhakar held a peaceful demonstration, a false case was registered against him under Sections 143, 341, 290, 353, 269, 271 r/w 149 IPC, 32 PA-1861, 51(a) Disaster Management Act, 2005. Later, he was arrested and taken away from a wedding function in far away Visakhapatnam. What was the need to arrest an opposition party leader and former MLA in such an unscrupulous manner?” Naidu wrote in his letter.

Further, he urged the DGP to take cognizance of the deterioration of law and order and the scuttling of democracy so that necessary steps may be taken to restore law and order in the state.