KT Rama Rao slams Congress over law and order failure

BRS working president KT Rama Rao criticised the Congress government over law and order, alleging failure to protect citizens following a firing incident in Karimnagar. He accused the police of bias and highlighted past policing measures under the BRS regime.

Karimnagar: BRS working president KT Rama Rao has said that the Congress government has utterly failed to protect the lives and properties of people and a situation has now arisen where citizens believe they need to protect themselves rather than depend on the police force in the State.

Speaking after calling on the injured persons in the firing incident here on Saturday, Rama Rao launched a scathing attack on the government, expressing concern over the failure of law and order. While armed assailants were looting in broad daylight, the Chief Minister and the police department were remaining mute spectators.

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He said the Congress government under Revanth Reddy’s leadership had completely transformed the police into an ineffective force to protect citizens. However, the police department had now turned into a private army to hound those opposing the government. The police were only acting against those criticising the government on social media or arresting those protesting. Even when people are fear-stricken due to a rash of incidents, neither the government nor the Chief Minister had issued a statement to assure the public about their safety.

He recalled that during the BRS regime, the State stood at the forefront in all fields by surpassing developed states like Haryana and Punjab. It was possible only because of innovative decisions taken by the then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.

Despite the lapse of over 32 hours after the daylight dacoity, the whereabouts of the burglars were not traced, even when the Home department was led by the Chief Minister. Similar armed robberies took place at a jewellery shop in Chandanagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad. In Koti, miscreants looted money at an ATM after opening fire. There was no clarity on what kind of justice was done to the victims.

During the BRS regime, 769 CCTV cameras were fixed to make Karimnagar a safe city. Local MLA and the then Minister Gangula Kamalakar took initiatives to fix 1000 more cameras in apartments, gated communities and other localities. The previous government took the initiative to monitor every incident immediately and ensure people reached their homes safely.

Not only CCTV cameras, the entire policing system was modernised to maintain law and order in the State under the leadership of Chandrashekhar Rao. The first GO was issued to provide new vehicles to police personnel by spending Rs 350 crore. For deterrence, interceptor vehicles were introduced in the State. Stating that the interceptor was nothing but a mini police station, the BRS leader said that interceptor vehicles were kept at all chowks.

Instead of chairing meetings in the command control room, the Chief Minister should take command of law and order. Instead of using hackers to hack into the CCTV cameras fixed at BRS leaders’ homes, Revanth Reddy should wake up and take steps for public safety. He said that despite such a major incident, no Minister or representative from the government visited the victims in hospital to comfort them.

Recalling the policing system during the BRS government, Rama Rao said that police had reacted swiftly in the Disha incident and the kidnapping of a girl child. Now, instead of maintaining law and order, police were working as a private army for the Chief Minister and harassing BRS activists by registering baseless cases. There was no question of sparing police officers who were harassing BRS workers even after retirement.

On the remarks of Union Minister Bandi Sanjay, Rama Rao wondered why Sanjay was silent in criticising the Chief Minister. He alleged that Sanjay might be apprehensive as any criticism could invite action from Revanth Reddy on the land deals he had. He claimed that he had complete information on these land deals, which would be exposed shortly.