HYDERABAD: Expressing concern over the deteriorating law and order in Hyderabad, especially in the Old City, AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi on Saturday said that the police were making the situation for the public worse.
Referring to recent incidents of crime, the AIMIM MLA accused the police of heavy-handedness. “Knives are being flashed, rapes are taking place, drugs are flowing, murders are taking place. But the police are thrashing people after 10.30 pm. People have the right to live. I have freedom in this country. After 11 pm, the police are beating people with sticks. It is like being in a curfew state. If police perform their duties efficiently, then no murder will take place or drugs smuggled,” he said.
Akbar demanded better police performance and questioned whether people, particularly the poor who have limited space inside their residences, do not have the right to sit outside their homes. “Was this what the Congress was voted to power for? That I step out of the house or sit on the porch and get beaten by the police? Law and order is collapsing,” Akbar said.
He suggested recruiting new officers and removing “corrupt” ones. He also welcomed the government’s initiative to curb the drug menace, stating: “The whole city is habituated to taking drugs. I welcome the initiative of curbing drugs. We will lend our full support. But let me tell you, ganja cannot come into the city without knowledge of the police. They know everything, but they close their eyes to fill their pockets,” Akbar alleged.
He demanded to know why his name remains in a case for allegedly threatening a police officer, while the names of Union Ministers Amit Shah and G Kishan Reddy were removed from FIRs related to the alleged use of minors in a campaign during the recent Lok Sabha polls. He noted, “The FIR was registered on our intervention...Now, we are knocking on the court’s doors again (to include names of the union ministers).”