Amaravati, Feb 27 (IANS): Kapu reservation movement leader Mudragada Padmanabham and 41 others were served summons by the Railway Court for their alleged role in the burning of a train five years ago in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

On January 31, 2016, a large meeting was convened at Tuni in East Godavari district as part of the Kapu community's fight for reservation.

On that fateful day, Ratnachal Express was set on fire, allegedly by the agitators, prompting the Railway Police to file cases on Padmanabham and 41 others under Sections 146, 147, 153 and 174 under the relevant Railway rules.

All the accused persons are required to appear on March 3 in the Vijayawada Railway Court.

Along with Padmanabham, Manchala Sai Sudhakar Naidu is also one of the summoned persons.

Padmanabam has been fighting for the cause of Kapu reservation dedicatedly since a long time and had questioned former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu for not keeping his 2014 election promise of providing reservation for the community.