Cops play out Ponguleti’s bomb threat, target KTR, relatives

The political witch hunt, following Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy's 'political bombs' announcement, began with a raid on Raj Pakala's home in Janwada, amid claims of breaking news from Congress supporters

Hyderabad: In a day of high drama that appeared to play out like a well-scripted plan, police targeted BRS working president KT Rama Rao and his relatives, barging into a family function which they later tried to depict as a ‘rave party’, and by ‘raiding’ the residences of Rama Rao and his relatives in Hyderabad.

The apparent political witchhunt which strangely came in the wake of announcements of ‘political bombs’ by Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and posts on X on Saturday itself by some Congress leaning handles of ‘Breaking News happening on Sunday’, began in the early hours of Sunday with a raid on the residence of Rama Rao’s brother-in-law Raj Pakala at Janwada. This, according to the BRS, was a family function, with Pakala throwing the party for his relatives after the housewarming ceremony of his new home.

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Interestingly, though there were elderly people, women and children at the spot, a press release from the DCP Rajendranagar said it was based on “reliable information” that a raid was conducted by local police, SOT and Excise officials on the “farmhouse” of Pakala at Janwada, where “21 men and 14 women” were present. The officials claimed to have found seven foreign liquor bottles and 10 “loose Indian liquor bottles” and gaming related items, but no other contraband. “All the male persons were subjected to drug test, with one Vijay Madduri testing positive for cocaine,” according to the DCP, who said since Pakala didn’t obtain an Excise license, a case was registered against him as per provisions of the Excise Act. The BRS has alleged that Madduri gave a statement under coercion when there was no evidence that he had consumed the drug at the farmhouse.

Interestingly, even when the police did not find any drugs at the farmhouse, the next step was to raid Pakala’s residence in a private villa community, where they also raided his brother’s residence. Officials who did not find anything from these houses, despite deploying sniffer dogs, then headed to Rama Rao’s residence. Meanwhile senior Excise officials, including a Superintendent Srilatha and an Excise CI too went on record stating that there were no drugs found at any of the places they searched.

By this time, BRS workers led by MLAs and senior leaders rushed to these residences to protest the police highhandedness. With doubts being raised of the police attempting to plant drugs in the houses, the BRS leaders and workers raised their voice against the cops, who responded by arresting them. MLAs K Sanjay, KP Vivekanand, former MLA Balka Suman, BRS social media convenor Manne Krishank and BRS spokesperson Putta Vishnuvardhan Reddy were among those arrested and shifted to the Gachibowli police station.