TJAC protest: Police vs professor goes live on Facebook

Hyderabad: Early on Wednesday, at around 3am, a dozen police SUVs moved into Nagarjuna Nagar at Tarnaka and headed towards TJAC chairman Prof. Kodandaram’s house. As the vehicles stopped, over 50 cops, joined by East Zone DCP Dr. Ravinder, emerged from the cars and marched towards  the professor’s residence. High drama followed.

Waiting to resist the police inside the house were Prof. Kodandaram and at least 20 associates. As soon as cops showed up, a member of the TJAC started to live-stream the entire incident on Facebook — a never-seen-before tactic by the TJAC.

The footage shows the DCP approaching a window and asking Prof. Kodandaram to surrender peacefully. The professor refuses and an argument breaks out between him and the top cop.

“You have to surrender. We have come to detain you on preventive measures,” the DCP is heard saying. To which, Kodandaram replies saying, “I’m not a criminal to be arrested at this hour. You can come after 6 am.”

The police official then tells the professor that for preventive arrests there “is no specific time”. We can arrest you whenever we please,” the DCP is heard yelling. The argument goes on for a while between police and the TJAC before suddenly, cops ram the main door with a blunt object.

Prof. Kodandaram is seen walking into one of the rooms as associates shout at cops to stop the “stupidity”. A seemingly restless professor is also seen complaining about “police brutality” to someone over the phone — it is still unclear who was on the other end of the line.

Kodandaram then turns to the camera and asks supporters to not be intimidated by the government’s actions.