HYDERABAD: Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi allegedly threatened and obstructed the Kukatpally Revenue Department officials from discharging their duties of safeguarding a water body. The incident occurred on Tuesday but a video of it was widely circulated on social media on Saturday.
On Monday, when the officials got to know that some people were illegally levelling the lake bed of Kindhi Kunta lake, they stopped them. Officials say the people, who are Gandhi’s henchmen, have been dumping mud and debris in the lake for a while now.
Next day, the MLA intervened and summoned the Revenue officials to the site. In the video, he can be heard saying, “I will see to it that you are taught a lesson by tomorrow,” to Kukatpally tahsildar P Sanjeeva Rao.
A few seconds later, Gandhi is seen hitting Revenue Inspector Sunitha with the papers she was holding, when she began to argue with one of his people. Speaking to Express, the tahsildar said, “The lake bed was being encroached and we had to take action”.
Wanted to lay walking track: MLA
The tahsildar further said, “When we tried to stop the people from levelling the lake, the MLA’s followers abused us more than he did.” However, Gandhi denied threatening the government officials and said it was merely a heated exchange of words.
“There is a demand from the people to lay a walking track. So, without burdening the government, I took up the work myself. Some developers with vested interests complained to the Revenue officials, alleging that we are encroaching the land. When the tahsildar stopped the work, I asked him to come to the lake and inspect it,” he said.
On being asked about inappropriately hitting the woman Revenue Inspector with papers, he said, “This issue was not raised by the officer but somebody else. I treat women with utmost respect. This is an act of mud-slinging”.