Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday vowed to sit on a dharna at the Nampally police station till the time the state government suspends Saifabad Assistant Commissioner of Police Bala Muralidhar and other police officials for manhandling his party Legislators at the Secretariat earlier in the day.
Mr Naidu demanded that Chief Minister K Rosaiah as well as the police department offer an unconditional apology to the Telugu Desam Party for their highhandedness in arresting TDP Legislators.
Trouble began when a routine dharna, staged by the TDP to press for demands that pending tuition fee reimbursement funds be released was broken up by the police.
The dharna was staged under the leadership of senior leaders Nama Nageswara Rao, Gali Muddu Krishnama Naidu, Errabelli Dayakara Reddy, D Narendra, Praveen Kumar Reddy and K E Prabhakar.
The leaders, raising slogans against the government’s indifferent attitude on releasing the tuition fee reimbursement funds, demanded the government to make its stand clear on the issue. As the colleges have admitting the students, the government should come out with proper mechanism, the protestors demanded. Otherwise it would jeopardize the interests of students, they stated.
Earlier, Chief Minister K Rosaiah had invited the TDP Legislators at his residence to discuss the issue since he was indisposed. However, the TDP leaders demanded the Chief Minister to come to Secretariat to discuss the issue. Social Welfare Minister Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose then invited them for talks at the Secretariat.
The TDP members remained adamant that they would meet Mr Rosaiah himself and that too at the Secretariat. They staged a dharna in front of C Block.
Meanwhile, Saifabad Assistant Commissioner of Police Bala Muralidhar objected to the dharna in front of the C Block. The TDP leaders objected to this objection, and entered into an argument with the ACP.
The police then arrested the TDP Legislators and forcibly took them to the Nampally police station.
Mr Naidu soon got the news of the arrest of his party leaders and made his way to the police station. He condemned the arrest and termed them illegal.
The former chief minister demanded that Hyderabad Police Commissioner AK Khan talk to him and also an apology by the Chief Minister and the Director General of Police for the highhanded behavior of his men.