Following the Telangana police’s remand report linking him to the attack on Vikarabad district officials, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) challenged the Congress-led government under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to arrest him.
“Revanth Reddy! For someone caught accepting a Rs 50 lakh bribe, everything might seem like a conspiracy. Even farmers protesting against your son-in-law’s pharmaceutical company appear to be a conspiracy to you! … Go ahead, arrest me! I will enter prison with my head held high, proud to stand by the farmers of Telangana!” KTR lashed out.
The incident he referred to occurred on November 11, when Vikarabad District Collector Prateek Jain, Additional Collector G Lingya Naik, Kodangal Area Development Authority (KADA) Chairman Venkat Reddy, and other officials visited Lagacharla village. They were there to hold a public hearing about land acquisitions for a proposed pharma cluster. However, residents, opposing the acquisition of farmland, chased the officials away, pelting them with stones and vandalising their vehicles. The unprecedented violence was promptly condemned by the Telangana IAS officers’ association.
In response, police named 46 people as accused in the attack, including former BRS MLA from Kodangal, Patnam Narender Reddy. According to the police report, Narender Reddy, currently in custody, admitted to inciting the violence as part of an attempt to “destabilize” the government, allegedly under the instructions of KTR. The police stated that his goal was to gain political advantage and tarnish the reputation of the Telangana government.
The investigation led Vikarabad police to arrest Narender Reddy after it was revealed he had spoken with B Suresh Raj, identified as the main accused in the attack, which resulted in injuries to two officials. Authorities have filed three cases related to the incident, and on Tuesday night, 16 suspects were presented before a magistrate and subsequently placed in judicial custody.
Police have deployed four teams to search for Suresh Raj, a youth leader from the BRS in Dudyala Mandal, who is still at large. The attack took place within the Kodangal constituency, represented by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.