HYDERABAD: A case has been registered against popular child rights activist Achyuta Rao, 53, for allegedly demanding money from the office bearers of Madhura Nagar Welfare Association (MNWA) on Tuesday. He was booked under extortion and criminal intimidation charges by the SR Nagar police.
The activist had earlier filed a writ petition in the High Court in connection with the laying of a link road to Madhura Nagar. According to police, residents of the said colony in Yousufguda were trying to get a link road raid from its C-Block to C1 through the State Home since 1997. They made numerous requests with the State government and the GHMC. When their request was considered in 2018, Achyuta Rao filed a writ petition against the same in the High Court.
“Self-styled rights activist Achyuta Rao, a third party, entered the picture and began threatening the office bearers with dire consequences if they failed to give him money,” K Sambasiva Rao, the general secretary of Madhura Nagar Welfare Association said in the complaint.
The Balala Hakkula Sangham honorary president Achyuta Rao filed a writ petition in the High Court alleging that MNWA was trying to demolish the compound wall and lay a road through the premises of Sishu Gruha, Vengalrao Nagar. In the PIL, he said that it would result in ill-health among children and cause air and noise pollution.
When contacted, Achyuta Rao categorically rejected the allegation levelled against him. “They filed the case only to harass me as I filed the writ petition to save the Shishu Vihar,” he said.