Rebel YSR Congress MP Kanumuru Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju, who was arrested by CID on sedition charges yesterday, has alleged that he was tortured in custody. When the Andhra Pradesh MP was presented before the Magistrate, his lawyer said that police used third degree methods against him, and due to that he is unable to walk now.
The counsel of the MP also said that he had undergone bypass surgery a few months ago, and therefore his medical examination is very necessary after the torture.
The lawyer told the magistrate that after Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju’s arrest on 14th May from his residence in Guntur, at around 11 PM in the night, when he had gone to sleep, suddenly five persons had entered his room. They had their faced covered with handkerchiefs. The MP informed that they tied his legs with a rope, and after that one beaten him on his feet with a stick, while another used a hard rubber stick.
After the torture, they ordered him to walk on the floor, and when he did that, they again repeated the assault, and beaten him with stick and rubber sticks several times. After that when he was unable to walk, they left the room.
Listening to the narration of the torture, the magistrate noted that tenderness was noticed on both the feet of the accused, ordered his medical examination in presence of the Y category security of the MP. The Magistrate directed to examine the injury marks and approximate time when they happened.
Images have surfaced on Social Media showing how badly the rebel YSR Congress Party was tortured badly in custody. The photographs of the MP show that his feet have turned purple, confirming that he was beaten by using 3rd degree methods in custody.
Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh has slammed the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for the assault of a sitting MP in custody.
Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted that Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju was “tortured right in the AP CID office in a barbaric manner”. He said that the rebel YSR MP was arrested on a foisted case, and termed the torture “broad daylight violation of fundamental rights and mockery of democracy”.
BJP national secretary Sunil Deodhar tweeted condemning the torture of Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju by Andhra Pradesh Police. “Till now, people of AP thought YSRCP is a Rowdy-Party. But now, Police Dept also seems to have become its another Rowdy outfit”, he added.
BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh said that the MP was tortured because he had raised his voice against missionaries and forceful religious conversions done by them.
Kanumuri Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju was arrested in Hyderabad by Andhra Pradesh’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Friday, and police had said in a statement that he was arrested on charges of sedition, disturbing communal harmony and attacking dignitaries of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. The police statement had said, “through his speeches on regular basis Mr Raju was indulging in systematic, schematic effort to cause tensions among the communities and by attacking various government dignitaries in a way which will cause loss of faith in the government which they represent”.
The Lok Sabha member from Narsapuram constituency have been speaking against his party leader for last several months, and in the recent weeks he had criticised CM Jagan Mohan Reddy over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. Last month, he had asked the CBI court to cancel the bail granted to the CM in an alleged disproportionate assets case. He had said that the CM is violating the bail conditions.
A few days ago, Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju had released a video making several allegations against the YSR Congress government. He alleged that the state is under-reporting Covid-19 deaths, and the CM was playing with corpses. He said Jagan govt was trying to make people addicted to alcohol, as the state has not imposed a full lockdown when the neighbouring states have done so. He had even questioned the Andhra Pradesh High Court for not ordering a lockdown in the state.
He said that if Jagan Reddy wants to be the prime minister, it is not right to sacrifice the lives of people to achieve that.
The MP had earlier commented on religious conversion of Hindus by Christian Missionaries, and had said that the missionaries are converting Hindus to Christians using money.
