The police posse that knocked on the former minister P Shankar Rao’s door Thursday and got sucked into a controversy went with the intention of arresting him in relation to a land scam case but developed cold feet when he complained of chest pain, sources said.
“The original plan was to take Shankar Rao to the police station for questioning and subsequently arrest him. But when he complained of health complications, the policemen changed their tune and said they had only intended to take him in for questioning as he had not been responding to repeated notices,” said an officer.
Rao had had a bypass surgery recently, and complained of chest pain after he was physically hauled, still in his lungi, into a police van and driven away. As per law, police are not supposed to use physical methods if an accused is required for only questioning.
“In most cases, we send notices to the accused under Section 160 of the CrpC to present himself before the investigationg authorities for questioning about the facts of the case. If despite repeated notices being served the accused does not turn up, then we arrest him,’’ said the officer.
“Going by the developments yesterday, it was clear that the stage had been set for Shankar Rao’s arrest. But it didn’t go according to script,” he said.
The CID probe ordered by the state government into the episode will examine whether the Cyberabad posse overstepped their powers in their handling of Shankar Rao.