Six persons attacked K. Ravinder Reddi, president of the Bar Association of the Nampally Criminal Court Complex, in Barkatpura after Friday midnight in what is said to be a consequence of the ongoing row over filing bail petition for the jailed TDP leaders in the case of attack on advocates.
Two more advocates and Mr. Reddi's son, Siddhartha, were also beaten up by the unidentified attackers. While the Bar Association president sustained bleeding injuries, others escaped with minor bruises. Mr. Reddi told reporters that he had returned home around midnight on Friday and went to the house of his neighbour M. Sudhakar Reddy, also an advocate, to discuss elections to the Bar Association of the High Court held earlier in the day. Meanwhile, Kaleru Venkatesh, a criminal lawyer and Golnaka corporator, turned up. He requested the lawyers present there not to oppose the bail petition being moved in the High Court for the TDP leaders, who were lodged in Cherlapally prison. “All of us asked Mr. Venkatesh to consider about the plight of their family of the advocate who was seriously injured in the attack by TDP cadre at Indira Park,” Mr. Reddi said. This resulted in an argument. Some 30 minutes later, the advocates heard noises and shouts and rushed out to find what had happened. They saw 20-year-old Siddhartha trying to prevent the attackers damaging his father's car with cricket stumps and iron rods. When Mr. Reddi and others intervened, the attackers surrounded and attacked them.
The issue of moving bail petitions to secure release of jailed TDP leaders had been triggering tense moments for past few days.
Emergency meet
The Secunderabad Bar Association, at an emergency meeting convened on Saturday, unanimously resolved to abstain from attending court duties on Monday to protest the physical assault on X Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Secunderabad on Thursday.
