Former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislator Patnam Narender Reddy has allegedly confessed to the police on orchestrating the recent attack on Vikarabad District Collector Prateek Jain and his team at Lagcherla village, during a public hearing on the ‘pharma village’.
According to the remand report, Reddy admitted to planning the attack as part of a "criminal conspiracy" allegedly aimed at destabilizing the Telangana government for political gains. The police claim that in his confession, Narender Reddy said that BRS Working President KT Rama Rao and other senior leaders were behind the conspiracy.
Narender Reddy, who was arrested from Hyderabad on Wednesday, November 13, was taken to Kodangal, the Assembly constituency of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. After a medical examination, the police produced him in a local court, which remanded him to judicial custody till November 27. Police sources said the arrest was based on evidence of 48 phone calls between Reddy and BRS activist B Suresh, another accused who remains at large.
Vikarabad District Collector Prateek Jain, Additional Collector G. Lingya Naik, and Kodangal Area Development Authority (KADA) Chairman Venkat Reddy were attacked by a mob in Lagacharla village of Dudyala mandal when they were trying to collect the opinion of farmers who were set to lose their lands in the proposed ‘Pharma village’, a cluster of pharma companies.
According to the police, Suresh had reportedly approached the officials when they were conducting a public hearing near Dudyala mandal headquarters and requested them to visit Lagacharla and speak to farmers.
When the officials reached the village, a group of villagers attacked them with stones and sticks. Additional Collector and KADA Chairman were injured in the attack.
Police registered three cases and picked up 55 people. After questioning them, the police produced 16 of them before a magistrate on the night of November 12. They were remanded to judicial custody.
Meanwhile, police arrested four more persons on November 13. They include the sister of the main accused Suresh Raj. BRS has condemned the arrest of Narender Reddy.
Party working president KT Rama Rao said the ruling Congress party was blaming the BRS for the ‘people’s revolt’ in the Chief Minister’s constituency. He wondered if a BRS leader talking to a party worker was a crime. He also denied that Suresh was involved in the attack. Rama Rao said Suresh was only explaining to officials how the farmers would be hit hard by the project.