State Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal wrote a letter to the Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy in this regard following a complaint lodged by the YSRC with the Election Commission.
In the complaint to the EC, which was personally handed over to the CEO by the party's contesting candidates Sobha Nagi Reddy and Konda Surekha, YSRC honorary president and MLA Y S Vijaya alleged that police were indiscriminately taking her party leaders into custody in the last couple of days in the name of maintaining law and order.
Even the party's candidates contesting the June 12 by-elections are being detained and also kept under house arrest, she pointed out.
This was depriving them of their legitimate right to campaign for the by-elections, Vijaya lamented.
Based on her complaint, the CEO asked the DGP not to detain YSRC leaders or prevent them from campaigning, official sources said.