Harish Rao, BRS leaders arrested at Narsingi, en route to Parigi
T Harish Rao and several Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders were arrested in Hyderabad while heading to support protesting farmers in Parigi. Police intercepted their convoy, triggering protests, amid tensions over proposed land acquisition for an industrial park project
Hyderabad: BRS deputy floor leader T Harish Rao and several BRS leaders were arrested by police at TSPA Junction in Narsingi, while heading to Parigi to meet protesting farmers.
The BRS delegation was scheduled to meet farmers and extend solidarity in their protests opposing acquisition of 1,200 acres land in Parigi mandal for the proposed industrial park project.
Harish Rao, accompanied by former ministers P Sabitha Indra Reddy and Errabelli Dayakar Rao, along with several BRS leaders, were stopped by police en route to Parigi in Vikarabad district.
Police intercepted the convoy at TSPA Junction and blocked their movement. When officers moved to detain Harish Rao, BRS cadres protested, leading to heated arguments and a tense standoff at the site.
However, the police managed to arrest Harish Rao and others, but without prior information on whereabouts of the police station they were being shifted.
Instead of nearby Narsingi police station, the BRS leaders were taken to Shamshabad via Outer Ring Road (ORR). The BRS cadre staged a sit-in protests and blocked the road at TSPA junction, opposing arrests of senior leaders.
The arrests came amid sweeping restrictions imposed on BRS leaders. Earlier in the day, Harish Rao, Sabitha Indra Reddy, and several leaders from the erstwhile Ranga Reddy district were placed under house arrest.
Former Pargi MLA Koppula Mahesh Reddy was detained and shifted to a police station, while party leader Shubhaprad Patel was taken into custody.
Meanwhile, ahead of the BRS leaders’ visiting Parigi, the police also detained the protesting farmers on Monday late night. They have been kept in the Parigi police station.
