Ahead of KCR rally in Kodangal, police detain Telangana Congress leader Revanth Reddy

Telangana Congress Working President and Kodangal candidate Revanth Reddy has been taken into preventive custody by the police ahead of caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s rally in the earlier’s home constituency. Reddy had reportedly threatened to stop KCR’s rally in poll-bound Telangana’s Kodangal. He had also called for a shutdown in the town to protest against the police raids on one of his associates’ residence.

The police, who also took in custody Reddy’s brother, a gunman and his watchman, said that the arrests were made to avoid any untoward incident during the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief’s rally in Kodangal. However, the gunman and the watchmen were later released but Reddy and his brother remained in the custody.

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Reddy’s wife Geetha alleged that the police broke into their house at 3 am and forcibly took away his husband. They didn’t even give him a chance to change his clothes, she said.

“This is highly undemocratic. He has only asked the people to question the government for neglecting the constituency by the TRS government in the last four years and not implementing the promises. I appeal to the people not to indulge in any violence but to maintain peace and show their anger in the form of a vote against the TRS,” Geetha said.

The arrests of Reddy and his brother came after local TRS leaders had approached the Telangana chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar and director general of police Mahendar Reddy and expressed their fear that Reddy would try to instigate people against KCR, which could create law and order problem.

Following their complaints, the state chief electoral officer directed the police to impose Section 144 in the area under which assembly of more than four persons is prohibited.

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The elections for the 119-member Telangana Legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held on December 7. The elections were necessitated after CM KCR dissolved the Assembly to avoid the clash of elections with 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The results will be announced on December 11.