Kakinada: The deteriorating law and order situation in the state was brought to fore again in the assault case of senior doctor of Rangaraya Medical College (RMC) Dr. P. Uma Maheswara Rao by Kakinada Rural MLA Pantham Venkateswara Rao (Nanaji). The Jana Sena MLA had allegedly assaulted and abused the professor over denial of permission to outsiders from using college playground.
The RMC had stopped outsiders from playing volleyball in the ground, but college committee was facing pressure from the ruling NDA MLAs for the past 15 days for allowing outsiders to use the ground.
According to sources, the RMC officials had approached the police and informed about the ongoing situation and sought protection. However, when Kakinada Rural MLA came to the ground along with his followers on Sunday, the police sent only two constables to mitigate the situation. The sources alleged that the constables did not attempt to intervene when the MLA assaulted the professor.
Samajika Nya Sadhana Samithi brought it to the notice of district collector S. Shan Mohan on Monday. The samithi general secretary Naveen Raj said that had the police reacted in-time, the incident could have been averted or at least mitigated.
The Collector told the delegation, including NGO leaders B.R. Mohan Rao, P. Krishna, Dalit association leaders Buriga Asheervadam and others, that he would inquire about the matter. Sources said that the Collector told the delegation that the MLA should not have committed such an act.
Principal Secretary to Medical and Health M.T. Krishna Babu took note of the incident and instructed the Collector to visit RMC. However, the Collector noted that the professor did not lodge a complaint with the police, but action would be taken against the MLA and other accused as per law.
Meanwhile, the professor informed the delegation that his head office lodged a complaint with the Sarpavaram police and he wanted them to deal with situation. It is learnt that six sections have been registered against the accused. However, the Kakinada DSP Raghuveer Vishnu told Deccan Chronicle that sections booked in the case have been kept under confidentiality.
