Midnight swoop against Revanth
■ Police breaks into Reddy’s house in Kodangal at 3 am and drags him out
Congress working president A. Revanth Reddy, who threatened to disrupt TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s public meeting at Kosgi, was picked up from his home in the early hours of Tuesday and detained for 13 hours under preventive custody by the Jadcherla police.
The Congress leader, who was dragged out of his house hours ahead of Mr Rao’s rally in Mahbubnagar district, was released only after the TRS chief left the district.
In a pre-dawn raid, police personnel wearing protective body-gear broke into Revanth Reddy’s bedroom at 3 am, while his wife Geetha and daughter Nimishya Reddy were asleep. A troop of 100 cops surrounded his residence at Kodangal in Vikarabad, while a group of officers, including women, forced their way into the bedroom by breaking down the door.
Mr Revanth Reddy asked the police to produce an arrest warrant, but the cops told him to “cooperate”.
His wife and daughter asked the police party whether they were terrorists to be picked up in such a manner and a police officer replied that they were only following the orders of their seniors.
The Congress leader was dragged out of his house; the police also arrested his four brothers, 140 party workers and servants.
“The group which claimed to be police forcefully opened the main gate and barged into my house and broke open the bedroom doors where my father, mother and I were asleep,” said Mr Reddy’s daughter Nimishya Reddy.
Wife Geetha Reddy broke down after the arrest.
The Congress leaders have strongly criticised the TRS, the police department and the Election Commission over the arrest of TPCC working president A. Revanth Reddy.
AICC president Rahul Gandhi has criticised the TRS through his Twitter handle. Tweeting in Telugu, he said, “TRS can’t stop the Congress’s wave with arrests. The arrest of Revanth Reddy is an example of the dictatorial rule of KCR (caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao). The days are near for the end of TRS’s anti-people rule. Fearing defeat, the arrest has taken place. The people are going to give it back to KCR by defeating the TRS.”
Condemning the arrest of Mr Revanth Reddy, former Union minister Mr. S. Jaipal Reddy has lashed out at the police department and the Election Commission (EC) along with the TRS. Sharply He said, “It seems that the police department and the EC are working for the TRS. Without any search warrant, the police have broken the locks of the doors and entered the house of Mr Revanth Reddy. The police did not care about the women in the house. If the Congress government is formed and if the police go to KCR’s daughter’s house during the night, will Mr Rao remain quiet? Though Mr Rao remains quiet now, the people will not remain quiet. We have not given any bandh call at Kosgi. Only to facilitate the Chief Minister’s program, the police arrested Revanth Reddy. The EC and police are working hard to help the caretaker Chief Minister. Our party workers are being arrested in constituencies like Gajwel and Sangareddy etc. Mr Rao is the caretaker Chief Minister but he is behaving like a dictator.”
The Congress has also warned the police department to remember that the Congress government will be formed in seven more days and also questioned them about how they could give permission for Mr Rao’s public meeting when section 144 was clamped. Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday, AICC InCharge of Telangana Congress affairs Mr. R.C. Khuntia said, “Police should remember that the People’s Front is going to win more than 80 seats. TRS is planning to win the election with unethical practices.”