The Hyderabad police Thursday booked Andhra Pradesh minister Danam Nagender and his followers after they allegedly prevented police officials from discharging their duty.
A case under four sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was filed against the labour minister and his supporters after they forcibly locked a temple on Road No.12 in the posh Banjara Hills, police said.
Tension prevailed in the area as the minister reportedly warned police against siding with the Hare Krishna movement, which claimed that the land around Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple was given to them on lease by the government.
Some local people said they had been demanding the government cancel the lease as the land belonged to them. Nagender said locals were only allowing the group to perform some rituals but they were encroaching surrounding land.
Nagender, who represents Khairatabad assembly constituency in the state capital, and his supporters were booked on charges of using criminal force to deter public servants from discharging duty, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and unlawful assembly.
The case was registered on a complaint of a police sub-inspector, with whom the minister allegedly misbehaved.
Policemen in large numbers were deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.
Hare Krishna movement leader S. Chandradas alleged that the minister and his followers created ruckus and threatened the devotees present in the temple.
The group plans to go ahead with Janmashtami celebrations Friday.