Images dnaindia/india/1899241/slideshow-andhra-bandh-and-protests & my experiential copy in DNA Bangalore edition today. The encounters on the way to an encounter dna photographer K Anantha Subramanyam was driving down to Puthur to cover a police operation to capture a couple of terror suspects holed up in that sleepy Andhra Pradesh town, when he had a taste of the agitation against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. October 5 began as routine a morning as any news photographer would have. After shooting a few pictures of finance minister Chidambaram at an event, I reached the Press Club to listen to Kamal Haasan at a media interaction. And then I got the call about the police operation in Puthur near Chittoor, to flush out a couple of terror suspects holed up in that town. As cab driver Kumar drove me to Chittoor, I came to know that the operation was actually happening in Puthur, 60 km away from the Chittoor. With the help of a Telugu TV correspondent and a Tamil news reporter, I managed to churn out a decent enough story to keep the news alive on Twitter. At that point of time, news was running only on TV channels. The continuous flow of re-tweets forced me to dig out more on the operation and also about the capture of the terror suspects and update my tweets. As we were crossing Nangli village on Karnataka-Andhra border, thousands of trucks and cars were stationed on highway. The traffic hold up was due to protests across AP against the bifurcation and the bandh had just started to get more aggressive. We took a detour from Nangli, crossed into Andhra Pradesh and went through tiny hamlets to reach Palamner, the next major town on way to Chittoor. Our car had huge ‘PRESS’ stickers on it, and I thought that would let us through. The first group of protesters did allow us to proceed after I clicked their pictures and the road blockade. But, the next group, more aggressive and armed with wooden sticks and logs, surrounded our car, with much abuse that can’t be reproduced, they wanted us to get down and face the wrath. After a bit of reasoning in Telugu and telling them that we were there to cover Samaikhyandhra bandh, they asked us to stay with them for the rest of the protest. They would not allow to go further or back. I called my editor and he asked me to return. But, after 40 minutes, the protesters let us go, but with a warning that there will be more blockades and we could be in harm’s way. We drove cautiously until we were stopped by next group in SG Chatram. Some of the protesters were already in high ‘spirits’, but they let us pass. A bigger group at the entrance of Chittoor, followers of the local MLA, who included, who were in support of a separate Telengana posed for a picture. After we reached Chittoor, the way to Puthur was eventless. My laptop was low on battery and there was no power anywhere. Worse, in a hurry to leave, I had forgotten to withdraw cash in Bangalore. And in the bundh-affected areas, three ATMs I came across, would dispense no cash. As we reached the spot, people enthusiastically guided to the spot where the encounter was taking place. Police officers were helpful and gave me what I wanted, and a stationery shop owner allowed me to recharge my laptop in in exchange of a family portrait shot. A glass of water, a chair for me to work on, the residents of Puthur were at at their hospitable best to help me send pictures and stories in time. As we left, they guided us to shortest route for Vellore so that we go back most of our way on TN roads, avoiding the Chittoor-Palamner route. And following their advice, we reached city with any eventualities and the brief nap on my way back helped to bring down the adrenaline rush, that ran through me almost non stop for more than 8 hour operation to cover the news on terror.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 13:58:03 +0000