Hyderabad: Bhim Army Chief, Chandrasekhar Azad who came to Hyderabad to address a protest meeting at Crystal Garden near pillar number 86, Mehdipatnam was rudely treated by cops.
Azad raised voice against TISS incident
Azad landed at Hyderabad Airport at 10:30 a.m. yesterday. When he came to know about the molestation incident and the TISS strike, he approached Adibatla Police Station. He was joined by many activists.
He raised voice against the injustices that were meted out to the poor who cannot bear the fee hike.
At the police station, cops promised to book the case.
It may be mentioned that police were not taking action for the past two days.
Earlier, Azad had tweeted that female students from TISS are being harassed at the police station.
He tweeted: “I am at TISS Hyderabad. Since last night female students (have been detained) and sitting at a police station and they are being harassed. @rachakondacop should immediately come here otherwise we will surround the station.”
“The humiliation of sisters will not be tolerated. Rachakonda police should immediately come here and respond, otherwise, we will be surrounding the police station,” he tweeted.
Cops cancel protest permission
Later, the cops canceled the permission that was granted to hold a protest meeting at Crystal Garden. The pressure was also mounted on the management.
They alleged that Azad is going to take out a rally from Mallepally to Crystal Garden.
Huge police force was also deployed around the Golconda Hotel to avoid any untoward incident.
Azad fell ill
Meanwhile, Azad who is suffering from heart ailment and lungs problem fell ill. He was taken to the house of UP MLA’s brother located at Mallepally.
At the residence of MLA’s brother, a cardiologist performed a checkup and suggested Azad to take rest for at least two hours.
On the other hand, Advocate Mehmood Pracha who landed in Hyderabad, went to Golconda Hotel where three rooms had been booked for him and his colleagues. The Hotel management said it had no such booking and refused to give any room to Pracha and his colleagues. It was known later that a strong police force had already taken over some rooms in the hotel and posted policemen there. Without turning the refusal to a public spat, Pracha decided to go Mallepally and join Azad.
Azad recalls childhood after listening Maghrib Azaan
He sat up on his bed when Azad heard Maghreb prayer call from a nearby mosque and said that it reminded of his village where there were at least seven mosques. He remembered listening to the call in his childhood there. The azaan incident also pushed him back to the memory lane where he remembered his mother and father.
At 6:30 p.m., police reached the spot and asked Azad and others to come to the police station under section 151 of CrPc. According to eye-witnesses, the policemen treated Azad like a criminal. They firmly asked Mehmood Pracha and Azad to sit in a police vehicle. They put Dr. Khushi in another vehicle.
The cops then seized cellphones of Pracha, Azad and Khusi. The police are not supposed to take away the phone from a lawyer.
For seven hours, they drove Pracha, Azad and Khushi from one place to another. They were taken to Bollaram and Medchal Police Stations too.
Attempts to divert activists
Police tried to divert hundreds of activists who were following cops by taking the Warangal Highway route.
At 1:30 a.m., upon the intervention of DCP, Azad was taken to Gandhi Hospital after his health got deteriorated. X-ray of the lungs and ECG confirmed that he was not in a condition to take any more stress.
From the hospital, at the instruction of the DCP, Azad and his colleagues were taken to Golconda Hotel where he was allowed to get freshen up. From there he was taken to the airport. The police stood guard to ensure that he had boarded the flight along with his colleagues at 5-00am.
Eight Bhim Army activists arrested
Meanwhile, after the news of arrests became public, many Bhim Army activists gathered at the Commissioner’s office where about 400 policemen had been deployed.
Large gatherings were also witnessed at Towlichowki, TISS, MANUU and other places.
Earlier, before the arrest of Azad, the police had started detaining the activists of the AIDMPAF and other supporters of Azad reaching the venue. It dispersed many others who came to attend the meet.
Bahujan Samaj won’t forget this humiliation: Azad
Later, tagging Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s office, Azad wrote that Bahujan Samaj won’t forget this humiliation. I will be back soon, he added.