Hyderabad: Amid high drama, the Siddipet police on Monday seized Rs 18.67 lakh from the house of a relative of M.
Raghunandan Rao, BJP candidate for the November 3 Dubbak byelection.
Soon after, the candidates followers allegedly snatched Rs 5.87 lakh back from the police.Tension prevailed in the town when the police conducted a search at theresidences of Raghunandan Rao, his close relative Surabhi Arjun Rao andfather-in-law Ramgopal Rao in Siddipet.When news of the searches reached him, Raghunandan Rao, who was campaigning in Dubbak, rushed back to Siddipet with his followers.
While he began arguing with Siddipet police commissioner Joel Davis, his followersconfronted the police which resulted to jostling between the BJP workers andthe police.
The BJP workers prevented the police from taking the seized cash away from the house of Arjun Rao.At one place, they overpowered the police and snatched some cash.
In the scuffle, the BJP candidate fainted.
Speaking after the incident, Davis, the Siddipet police commissioner, said that police had raided the house of Arjun Rao based on a credible tip off and seized Rs 18.67 lakh from there in the presence of Siddipet tahsildar and executive magistrate Vijaya Sagar.He said that when the police were coming out from Arjun Raos residence.
BJPworkers provoked by Raghunandan Rao entered the premises by jumping thecompound wall and snatched Rs 5.87 lakh.
He said that the police search wasvideographed and Arjun Rao had confessed that his brother-in-law JitenderRao had sent the money for Raghunandan Raos campaign through his driver.The commissioner said that police had registered cases against the BJPcandidate and his followers for obstructing the police and attacking them.He said that the executive magistrate had lodged a complaint with the policeagainst the BJP candidate and his followers for snatching Rs 5.87 lakh.The tension spread to Karimnagar too when police took BJP state presidentBandi Sanjay Kumar into custody when he was when he heading towardsSiddipet.
Other BJP leaders including A.P.
Jitender Reddy, G.
Vivek andothers reached Siddipet.They alleged that the TRS feared defeat in the byelection and was using thepolice to create panic among BJP cadres and leaders to prevent them fromcampaigning actively.Raghunandan Rao alleged that the police raided his house without issuingnotice.
They did not find any money and enacted a drama of seizing cash fromthe house of a close relative.The police commissioner said that the police also searched the house ofSiddipet municipal chairman Raj Narsu following the complaint from the BJPleaders alleging that the latter kept cash in his house to distribute tovoters.Finance minister T.
Harish Rao accused the BJP of trying to mislead thepeople about the cash found in Raghunandan Raos relatives house.He alleged that the BJP was only trying to garner sympathy.
He pointed outthat the party leaders could have videographed the incident instead ofsnatching the seized cash from the police.
He said the BJP workers behavedlike rowdies by snatching the cash.