By Balakrishna Ganeshan / The News Minute
Fear is writ large in Shah Ali Banda, a Muslim dominated neighbourhood in Hyderabad’s Old City, after the heavy police crackdown in the area to quell the violent protests against T Raja Singh, the BJP MLA who was sacked after his latest burst of hate speech against the minority community.
Hussain, a teenager, was among the many youngsters TNM spoke to who were brutally assaulted by the police during the lathi charge at Zohra Colony in Shah Ali Banda on Wednesday evening. The 18-year-old, who works in a mineral water supply shop, said, “Usually we work till 11 pm, but due to the prevailing restrictions we were about to close around 10 pm. Just when we were about to wind up, we heard about some commotion outside and my boss immediately asked me to lock the gate. That’s when a policeman holding a lathi noticed me and tried barging in. Though I ran inside the shop, the police forced their way in and assaulted me. They bundled me into their vehicle. They also took away my phone, which fell on the ground.”
At 9.30 pm on Wednesday, protests were underway demanding the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raja Singh, who had made derogatory comments against Prophet Mohammed. During the protest rally, some miscreants reportedly hurled stones at the police, after which they responded with a lathi charge. The police went on a rampage and detained at least 80 men. Those detained were housed in the Kanchanbagh police station and released later following the intervention of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
This story was originally published in thenewsminute.com . Read the full story here