Police flex muscles on Dalits, MLA Kaushik Reddy during Dalit Bandhu protest

Huzurabad MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, who had joined the Dalits by taking up their issue, was manhandled and literally dragged away by the police from the protest venue, following which he developed chest pain and was admitted to hospital

Karimnagar: Police on Saturday used sheer muscle power to disband a protest that was being staged in Huzurabad town by Dalit Bandhu scheme beneficiaries demanding payment of their instalments that were frozen by the Congress government.

Huzurabad MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, who had joined the Dalits by taking up their issue, was manhandled and literally dragged away by the police from the protest venue, following which he developed chest pain and was admitted to hospital.

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A few other of the protestors, including a woman, were also manhandled by the police during the attempt to silence the protestors and disperse them.

The MLA was later placed under arrested and shifted to the police station.

The protest had been on the cards for quite some time, with Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries complaining that Congress government had frozen the second instalment of their Dalit Bandhu financial assistance in their accounts.

The first instalment of the scheme was disbursed by the BRS government last year. Following the complaints, Kaushik Reddy had asked the beneficiaries to meet him with their applications at his camp office in Huzurabad.

The invitation, however, saw a large number of beneficiaries turning up at his residence on Saturday.

Some of them wanted the legislator to join them in a dharna at Ambedkar Chowk, to which he agreed. There, they garlanded the Ambedkar Statue, and squatting on the road, began raising slogans against the State government and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

Traffic on the Karimnagar-Warangal national highway came to a standstill, following which the police interfered and tried to arrest the MLA. The Dalit Bandhu beneficiaries and party cadre opposed this, leading to a scuffle between the police and them.

In between, the police literally dragged Kaushik Reddy into a waiting police vehicle, even as he resisted arrest. In between, he complained of chest pain and difficulty of breathing, following which he was shifted to the Huzurabad area hospital.

On the other hand, the beneficiaries continued the protest demanding the release of the legislator, prompting the police to arrest some of them.

By evening, Kaushik Reddy was shifted to the Apollo Reach hospital in Karimnagar, where his condition was stated to be stable.

The incident led to widespread condemnation of the police high-handedness, with BRS leaders including working president KT Rama Rao questioning the police using force to suppress what was a peaceful protest.