Cops foil 'Chalo Assembly' bid; detain BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar

Hyderabad: State BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar equalled Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's rule to that of Nizam's rule in Telangana. Addressing the media on Friday, Sanjay warned the TRS chief against using police force to attack the BJP cadres and for arresting them illegally.

It may be mentioned here that the BJP State unit has given a Chalo Assembly call to mount pressure on the State government to officially celebrate Telangana Liberation Day on September 17, to mark the occasion of accession of Hyderabad State into the Indian union.

The Karimnagar MP said that his party would not stop its struggle until the Telangana Liberation Day was celebrated officially. "The Chief Minister took a vow to celebrate the day during the separate Telangana movement. But, once in power, he took a U-turn to please the AIMIM and failed to keep his promise," Sanjay said.

"We are not against the police doing their brief to maintain law and order. But attacking the partymen and causing injuries are not acceptable," he added.

Earlier in the morning, tension prevailed in Banjara Hills when the police took the State BJP chief into custody and shifted him to Bollaram police station. Police had a tough time in controlling the party workers who turned up in good numbers to join the Karimnagar MP in the Chalo Assembly programme.

Former State president of BJP Dr K Laxman and several other senior leaders were kept under house arrest. Party MLC N Ramchander Rao criticised the police for stopping him from going to the Legislative Council.

BJP Mahila Morcha State president Geetha Murthy, BJP SC and Minority Morcha State official representative Yenugula Rakesh Reddy, State secretary G Uma Rani were among several others taken into custody when they reached the State Assembly. Some of the leaders and party workers injured were rushed to the hospitals and those arrested were shifted to the Goshamahal stadium.