HYDERABAD: TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy and scores of other Congress leaders were placed under house arrest on Monday as they were planning to visit Kokapet lands, whose auction fetched Rs 2000 crore for the government. The TPCC president had recently accused Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of resorting to corruption while auctioning off the lands and had called for a re-auction.
Alleging that the State authorities prevented him from attending the Parliament session, Revanth wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. “This offends the parliamentary privileges of a member when the House is in session,” he said in his letter. Revanth said that he would lodge a complaint with Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah against the ‘rampant corruption’ in the Kokapet land deals.
The police officials, however, said that they had no intention to prevent the MP from proceeding to New Delhi. “Police presence at his residence was in connection with the call given by the Congress to stage a protest at Kokapet,” stated M Sudharshan, ACP, Banjara Hills. Meanwhile, others including CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, MLA Jagga Reddy, former Ministers Shabbir Ali and R Damodar Reddy, TPCC general secretary Vinod Reddy, Youth Congress’ national general secretary M Anil Kumar Yadav and NSUI State president Balmoor Venkat, who were on their way to Kokapet, were also put under house arrest. Some of the leaders managed to sneak out and assemble at Kokapet. They were later detained by police at the spot. They alleged that the police were rude towards the men and women who had gathered there to stage a protest.