High drama was witnessed when Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, who had been on a hunger strike and disappeared from a government hospital in Vijayawada, appeared suddenly at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here on Monday afternoon.
Mr. Rajagopal escaped after dodging a large contingent of police at the Vijayawada hospital on Sunday and reportedly travelled using different modes of transport and reached the NIMS in an auto-rickshaw. Wearing jeans and a blue pullover, he ran straight into the Acute Medical Care unit, chased by TV cameramen, and crashed on a bed.
‘Condition stable’
Doctors said the condition of the MP, who was on fast for the last four days opposing a Telangana state, was stable.
Outside the hospital, tension mounted as pro-Telangana activists raised slogans asking the MP to go back. They were taken into custody by the police, who were present in large numbers.
The MP surfaced after the government announced that it had no problem in providing treatment to him at the NIMS.
After holding an informal Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister K. Rosaiah announced the suspension of Vijayawada Police Commissioner K.V. Rajendranath Reddy and five other police officers for “showing negligence and behaving irresponsibly” leading to the MP’s disappearance from the hospital.
