Nirmal police on Saturday assumed custody of MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi following grant of a five-day police custody by Nirmal Judicial First Class Magistrate K. Ajesh Kumar the previous day.
The MLA, who faces a case for allegedly delivering a hate speech at Nirmal on December 22 last, will be lodged at the AR headquarters in Adilabad town until January 17 morning when he will be produced in the court.
The investigation team comprising Mancherial DSP V. Ravindar Reddy, Mandamarri CI Ch. Raghunandan and Nirmal Rural CI A. Raghu will question the MLA over the next four days. The questioning will be done in the presence of the latter's advocate.
Mr. A. Raghu took custody of the MLA at the District Jail, Adilabad, in the morning and took him to the AR headquarters situated one km away from the jail. Mr. Owaisi was given a medical check-up by doctors, Ch. Suresh Chandra and K. Ashok, from the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Adilabad.
After three days of his stay in the District Jail, the MIM leader was unshaved and looked a bit haggard as he emerged from the prison gate in the morning.
He held a hand to the right side of his stomach, indicative perhaps of the pain of which he had been complaining.
The doctors, however, certified him to be fit for being shifted from the jail, saying his condition was stable. Mr. Owaisi was advised a diet comprising semi-solids and liquids by RIMS dietician M. Vijay Kumar, who too was present in the jail before the former was shifted to the AR headquarters.
A team of specialist doctors from the Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad, consisting of a gastroenterologist, a surgical gastroenterologist, a nephrologist and a cardiologist are likely to arrive here in the evening. They will give the MLA a thorough check-up subsequently.
Mr. Owaisi was reportedly happy to be out of the jail even if it meant police custody. He is said to have expressed happiness on finding a cot for him to sleep in the building where he will be questioned by the investigators during the next few days.
