Hyderabad: Tension prevailed in different parts of the Old City into the early of Thursday, after a mob pelted stones on a police team at Shahalibanda, triggering a spontaneous lathi-charge, including in the adjoining localities.
Task Force sleuths rushed to the spot and identified the protesters who rushed into adjacent houses. When they refused to open doors, Task Force personnel broke open the main door and nabbed two alleged stone-pelters.
Many protesters were arrested from Shaalibanda, Moghalpura and surrounding areas and detained at Kanchanbagh police station.
The situation worsened when protestors burnt an effigy of BJP legislator T. Raja Singh near Moghalpura water tank two hours after the lathi-charge. They were lifted from their house, dragged on the road and caned.
Meanwhile, South Zone DCP P. Sai Chaitanya rushed to Shaalibanda, alerted the company heads of paramilitary forces, including Rapid Action Force, CRPF and City Armed Reserve Force (CAR) who were deployed at Charminar.
Later when another group of protesters burnt an effigy of Raja Singh near Moghalpura they were stopped by paramilitary forces amid a lathi-charge.
Incidentally, some people allaged that they were returning from work and had nothing to do with the protests were beaten. One Äbdul Mushtaq, alleged that he was returning home after work when the police without questioning caned him. Similarly, around midnight, 127 ‘protestors’ were picked up from different localities and detained, police sources said.
On coming to know of the tension, AIMIM chief Assaduddin Owaisi and party floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi called up senior police officials and demanded the immediate release of all those who were detained. After the 127 alleged protesters were released around 2.15 am, the two Owaisi brothers called them up to confirm that they were released and advised them to head home to be with the worried family members.
City police commissioner C.V. Anand and senior officers reached Charminar around 2.30 am and urged zonal in-charge officials to stay alert, sources said.
MIM legislator Ahmed Bin Abdullah Balala and local corporators tried to de-escalate the situation all through the night. Videos of paramilitary forces caning youth and the Owaisi brothers talking to those who were released have all gone viral.
DCP Sai Chataniya maintained that 90 youth who were arrested for protesting at Shahalibanda had been released.
