BJP leaders apprise HM; seek action against cops

Hyderabad: A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders led by State unit president K Laxman, former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, former MLAs G Kishan Reddy and Chintala Ramachandra Reddy on Tuesday met Home Minister Mahmood Ali.

The BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to the Minister seeking his intervention to rein in forces which the leaders feel are out to disrupt peace and harmony in the State by fomenting hatred among communities.

They said the slew of incidents that took place on May 5 were the result of a larger conspiracy to disturb peace in the city. However, what was shocking was the hostile attitude that police evinced in the entire episode.

The police personnel behaved as if they were present at the disputed area to protect the conspirators and punish those who are there standing by the administration, they said.

They said the GHMC officials demolished a private house as part of road widening work at Amberpet where construction of a flyover was going on the Amberpet-Ramanthapur road.

The house belonged to a private individual, who had taken compensation from the GHMC and gave his consent for the demolition.

However, a few outsiders reached the spot led by MIM MLA Pasha Quadri and raked up a non-existent controversy.

The leaders alleged that Quadri started offering prayers at the site claiming that the land belonged to the Wakf Board.

At this juncture, the local residents, who are concerned about the road widening and faster construction of the flyover, took objection to the obstruction being created by a few outsiders with vested interests.

The mischievous outsiders, emboldened by the presence of the MIM MLA, started pelting stones at the locals as a result of which many people and police officials sustained injuries.

The police personnel resorted to lathi charge indiscriminately and a curfew-like situation ensued as people were not allowed to come out of their homes even for medical emergencies.

The BJP leaders said that on learning about the problem, BJP MLA Raja Singh and MLC N Ramchander Rao tried to go to the spot as they received many calls from the people of Amberpet about police high-handedness and belligerence of the outsiders.

When Raja Singh reached the spot and was trying to understand the situation, the police prevented him.