Harish Rao detained in police station for over eight hours

HYDERABAD: A slew of arrests of BRS leaders, including former minister T. Harish Rao, and MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy led to widespread protests by opposition party leaders and workers in Hyderabad and in other parts of the state, with protesters in some places burning effigies of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

Senior BRS leader Harish Rao was detained by the police in the morning and taken to Gachibowli police station, where he was kept for around eight hours

Harish Rao was arrested while attempting to meet party MLA Kaushik Reddy facing a case in Banjara Hills police station. He said that the case against Kaushik Reddy was illegal, and included trespass charges.

“A police station is a public place and he went there to lodge a complaint that his phone was being tapped. The police arrested him and kept him in Banjara Hills police station all day. Why was he not produced before a magistrate?” Harish Rao asked.

After his release late in the evening, Harish Rao accused Revanth Reddy of “acting like a psycho with the single aim of targeting opposition party workers and leaders.”

He said, “If Rahul (Gandhi) cannot control Revanth’s vengeful ways then he should change the Chief Minister in Telangana,” Harish Rao said.

Meanwhile, several senior BRS leaders met Harish Rao at the Gachibowli police station to express support. Several of them were also taken into custody in the evening when they sat on a dharna demanding Rao’s release.