Telangana MLA accuses cops of thrashing him; cops say leader hurt self

Naveen Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, June 20  

BJP lone and controversial MLA from Goshamahal in the Telangana Assembly, Raja Singh, has accused the Hyderabad Police of thrashing him while he was trying to replace a statue of a freedom fighter here late last night.

However, the police have refuted the allegations and accused the MLA of assaulting the policemen and then "injuring himself on the head with a stone".

Raja Singh along with his supporters attempted to replace the old statue of Rani Avanti Bai Lodh, who was the first freedom fighter from the city to have participated in the 1857 revolution against the British, when they were stopped by the police and this lead to a clash.

Raja Singh suffered injuries on his head and is taking treatment at the local Osmania Hospital.

The BJP activists were allegedly trying to replace the existing statue with a new one at an odd hour without prior permissions from the administration.

The incident took place around 1.30 am. Interestingly, the MLR also mentioned the names and ranks of the policemen who allegedly beat-up the MLA.

Raja Singh came into the limelight by copying the Pakistan ISPR anthem and changing words to claim it to be his own creation and dedicated it to the Indian Army.

A strong critic of Owaisi brothers, he refused to take oath as an MLA under a Muslim pro-tem speaker from AIMIM and took oath only after a regular speaker was elected in the Telangana Assembly.