HYDERABAD: Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar and eight others filed two criminal petitions seeking to quash the FIRs lodged against them over the reported clash with police in Chengicherla.
The FIRs, registered at the Uppal and Medipally police stations in the Rachakonda police commissionerate, said they were involved in a clash between two communities. However, the petitioners denied the accusations and labelled them as “false” and “politically motivated”. They reasserted their innocence and claimed that they were wrongly implicated by the police.
The incident reportedly took place at Pittal basthi, Chengicherla, on Wednesday (March 27). According to the complaint by Nacharam inspector A Nandishwar Reddy, the petitioners, along with others, forcibly destroyed barricades and prevented police from performing their official duty. It also resulted in injuries to the officer and other staff, it added.
In response, the petitioners said they had no involvement in the said incident. They clarified that on the eve of Holi, there was a confrontation between members of the ST and Rohingya communities, wherein the former were allegedly assaulted. Sanjay, being an MP and BJP national general secretary, along with other party activists, visited Chengicherla on March 27 to console the affected families. They claimed that the police prevented them from meeting the victims and allegedly used force against them. While there was tension, they asserted that there was no untoward incident.
The petitioners argued that the FIRs were aimed at tarnishing their reputation. They contended that the alleged acts do not constitute offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Thus, the continuation of legal proceedings against them amounts to an abuse of the court’s process, they added.