For the second consecutive day on Sunday, police constables entered the house of the Resident Editor of The Hindu S. Nagesh Kumar here, but on a different mission, going by their by their claims.
The policemen insisted that they were collecting details of religious places, hospitals and other institutions in a prescribed format for their database, but the family members of Mr. Nagesh Kumar smelt a rat as it came only a day after eight uniformed men stormed their house.
Incidentally, the RE resides in the nursing home run by his wife Dr. S. Radha Rani. The manner two constables of Chikkadpally police station – M. Satish and G. Sai Charan – visited the house aroused suspicion about the intent because they made an initial inquiry and left and returned later to demand the phone number of Mr. Nagesh Kumar’s wife. They already had the number of her landline telephone. Meanwhile, a few journalists of The Hindu and crew of TV news channels rushed to the spot. On seeing them, the constables fled on their motorcycle because their senior police officials denied having sent them.
Two sub-inspectors of the police station later visited the house in a bid to convince Dr. Radha Rani that the visit by the constables on a day her husband was to show up before the investigating officer in the case involving him and Director General of Police V. Dinesh Reddy was a coincidence.
Meanwhile, West Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police V. Satyanarayana stated in a press release that the policemen went to Mr. Nagesh Kumar’s house on Saturday to serve a notice on him seeking his attendance in the police station for the purpose of investigation into the complaint against him. It was not eight constables as claimed by his family, but only one sub-inspector and two constables, all of whom behaved well. The police did not go there to arrest the RE. The DCP added that the police was not vindictive in their approach, but complying with a court order asking the RE to cooperate with the investigation. However, Harini, daughter of Mr. Nagesh and an advocate herself, said it was indeed a group of eight constables. “While three came right in, one stood just inside the entrance and two were on the stairs, two more were seated in the vehicle,” she stated.
