Goshamahal MLA T. Raja Singh alleged that the police assaulted him when he was trying to replace a statue of freedom fighter Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi at the Jumeerat Bazar Y junction here early on Thursday.
However, the police clarified that Mr. Singh himself had inflicted a head injury with a boulder.
West Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) A.R. Srinivas also stated that the MLA abused and assaulted policemen who were deputed to control the situation in the area. Supporting their claims, the police also released a video that showed Mr. Singh hitting himself with a boulder.
Around 12.30 a.m., the Goshamahal legislator, with over 200 supporters, reached the Jumeerat Bazar area for replacing the 10-foot statue of Rani Avanti Bai with a 25-foot new statue without permission from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Hyderabad police, the DCP said.
The fibre-reinforced statue of the freedom fighter was earlier installed in the area in 2009, which was changed twice in the past due to damage caused to it.
The police resisted and opposed the move by the group, Mr. Srinivas said.
“We neither assaulted the MLA nor resorted to lathi-charge. In fact, he misbehaved, abused and manhandled our men, who were trying to bring the situation under control,” the DCP said, adding that the police had sufficient evidence to prove that it was a self-inflicted injury.
However, Mr. Singh alleged that when he and his supporters were trying to replace the statue, the Assistant Commissioners of Police of Goshamahal and Asif Nagar, Narender Reddy and N. Narsimha Reddy respectively, attacked them with sticks, causing bleeding injuries. Soon, he was rushed to Osmania General Hospital for treatment.
Mr. Srinivas said that a case had been registered against the MLA and his supporters under Section 143, 145,152, 153-A and 353 of the Indian Penal Code. “Our men too suffered minor injuries,” the officer added.
