'Arrest me if you can' - Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao's dare to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy Thursday afternoon, after he was named in a police case linked to the violence in Vikarabad district this week. "Arrest me! I will walk into prison with my head held high for standing by the farmers of Telangana," Mr Rama Rao, popularly called KTR, posted on X.
He was responding to rumours he may shortly be arrested. The BRS' Patnam Reddy - 'Accused No 1', the cops have said - was arrested Wednesday, and he reportedly said KTR ordered the attack.
"First, it is a false and fabricated case... I want to say to Revanth Reddy, 'if you are so interested in arresting me, then please do it'. But the 21 poor farmers in jail (arrested in the aftermath of villagers attacking a team of officials) should be released,' KT Rama Rao, or KTR, told news agency ANI.
"The Revanth Reddy government has been an abysmal failure... everyone can see how there is a kind of 'Emergency'. I want to tell Revanth to stop grabbing farmers' lands..." KTR declared.
KTR slammed Revanth Reddy on Wednesday too, accusing the Chief Minister of grabbing land from poor farmers to benefit a pharmaceutical company owned by his son-in-law.
Responding to the rumours of his arrest, Rama Rao ripped into the Chief Minister and the conspiracy allegations against his colleague, posting on X, "For a man caught with a Rs 50 lakh bribe (Mr Reddy is implicated in a 2015 cash-for-votes scam) everything will seem like a conspiracy! Farmers protesting against your son-in-law's pharma company will be a conspiracy! Farmers not bowing down to your brother's threats is a conspiracy! To stand with poor tribal farmers is a conspiracy!"
BRS workers massed at KTR's Hyderabad home last night as talk of his impending arrest spread.
The Telangana government, meanwhile, has dismissed KTR's allegations. IT Minister, Sridhar Babu, told NDTV the Reddy administration has taken a serious view of the attack, which he said had been planned by "political elements". "There is a conspiracy to stop development in Telangana," he declared.
Over 50 people were detained after villagers attacked a team of officials Monday to protest against the acquisition of 1,358 acres for a pharma project. The villagers have said compensation offered is below the market price. The incident took place within the Chief Minister's Kodangal constituency.
READ | Violence Over Land In Telangana CM's Constituency, 55 Detained
Four senior officials, including a cop, were injured after the 100-strong mob attacked.
Senior police officer V Satyanarayana told NDTV the attack had been planned, including luring District Collector Prateek Jain and a group of Revenue Department officials, to ground zero.
Mr Jain and the officials were to hold a public meeting, so farmers could voice their concerns, at one location, but were persuaded to travel to a second by a man called Suresh (an associate of the arrested BRS lawmaker). As soon as the officials reached the second spot they were attacked.
With input from agencies
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