BRS leader remanded in police custody over Kodangal incident

A court in Telangana’s Vikarabad district has sent Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former MLA Patnam Narender Reddy to judicial custody for 14 days for his alleged involvement in the attack on government officials during a public hearing at ‘Pharma Village’ two days ago.

Narender Reddy, who was arrested in Hyderabad on Wednesday morning, was taken to Kodangal, the Assembly constituency of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. After a medical examination, the police produced him before a local court, which remanded him in police custody till November 27.

The BRS leader was then shifted to Cherlapally jail. The arrest came following an investigation into the attack on the village of Lagacharla on Monday.

The former MLA from Kodangal had reportedly spoken to B Suresh Raj, the prime suspect in the attack. Suresh, a leader of BRS youth wing in Dudyala mandal, is still absconding and four police teams are searching for him. Vikarabad District Collector Prateek Jain, Additional Collector G. Lingya Naik and Kodangal Area Development Authority (KADA) chairman Venkat Reddy were attacked by a mob in Dudyala mandal village in Lagacharla when they tried to gather views of farmers who are losing their land . in the proposed ‘Pharma Village’, a cluster of pharmaceutical companies.

According to police, Suresh had allegedly approached the officials when they were holding a public hearing near Dudyala Mandal headquarters and requested them to visit Lagacharla and speak to farmers.

When the officials reached the village, a group of villagers attacked them with stones and sticks. Additional Collector and KADA Chairman were injured in the attack.

The police, who registered three cases, arrested 55 people. After questioning them, the police brought sixteen of them to court on Tuesday evening. They were taken into custody.

Meanwhile, police arrested four more people on Wednesday. Among them is the sister of the main suspect Suresh Raj. BRS has condemned the arrest of Narender Reddy.

Party working president KT Rama Rao said the ruling Congress party blamed the BRS for the ‘people’s unrest’ in the Chief Minister’s constituency. He wondered whether it was a crime for a BRS leader to talk to a party worker. He also denied that Suresh was involved in the attack. Rama Rao said Suresh was merely explaining to officials how farmers would be hit hard by the project.