Hyderabad: After the Hyderabad police’s attempt to send MLA Raja Singh to jail on Tuesday failed, a team of higher officials studied all possibilities of taking action against Singh.
So far, 101 cases are booked against Singh of which 18 are communal cases. After detailed studies, the police explored the option of invoking the PD Act which did not mandate him to be produced in court.
“A committee comprising legal officers hears upon the arguments of the PD Act proposal and invokes it on any persons seen as a threat to law and order of any State,” said a police official on the condition of anonymity.
The police after the first statement of Raja Singh against the Munawar Faruqui show began to closely monitor him. As his rhetoric took an ugly turn, the police began to collect all details about his previous cases and activities.
“Strategy was to keep the MLA and his associates confused. Three 41A CrPC notices were issued to the MLA on Thursday at his office and explanations were sought about three criminal cases of hate speech at Mangalhath and Shahinayathgunj police stations. The MLA and his followers assume the police will arrest in some cases and he can obtain bail easily. The police made an appeal in the high court as well against the MLA’s bail in the Mangalhath case booked for alleged derogatory comments against Prophet Mohammed. The MLA did not have a clue about the PD Act proposal readied. Around 3 pm, a contingent of 100 policemen reached his house and took him into custody. The orders were served on him and the MLA shifted to Central Prison at Cherlapally,” the cop further revealed.
The next move of the legal team of the MLA would likely have been approaching the high court to get the PD Act quashed and get him out of jail.
101 cases have been booked since 2004 against Singh of which 18 cases are for hate speech and communal riots. For the invocation of the PD Act, three grave cases in six month period suffice.
Intelligence agencies warned of massive protests and disturbances on Friday after the MLA posted a video making derogatory statements against Prophet Mohammed, the Muslim community, and Munawar Farooqui in a video.
Background of Raja Singh’s comments
On August 22, after the video was released wherein he allegedly made derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad, the police decided it was enough. Keen on maintaining Hyderabad as ‘communal riot free state’, they booked cases in different police stations. The next morning, Raja Singh was arrested.
The suspended BJP MLA passed several derogatory comments against Muslims and Prophet Muhammad in the Youtube video. He was essentially unwilling to let go of the fact that standup comic Munawar Faruqui was allowed to hold a show in the city last week.
At the end of the video, after making derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad, Raja Singh said that whatever he uttered was “comedy”. The MLA said he also didn’t like what he said. The video was uploaded on Shree Ram Channel Telangana (now made private).
Soon after the release of the video, protests broke out in various parts of Old City. Later on, protests intensified against Raja Singh after he was released on bail. The BJP disassociated itself from his comments.
As things were going out of hand, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a high-level meeting and asked police to initiate tough action. High officials of the police at an internal meeting explored all options and considered invoking PD Act as a super available alternative.
BJP chief spokesperson for Telangana Krishna Saagar Rao earlier told Siasat.com that his party respects all religions and faiths. “We are a national party and we don’t support the statements of Raja Singh or hate speech,” he stated and clarified that the BJP does not support Singh’s remarks on Prophet Muhammad.
However, the court released him on conditional bail on Tuesday itself.
Sequence of events
Raja Singh’s derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad were posted in a Youtube video on the night of August 22. It has been taken down since. Raja Singh posted it in retaliation to the Telangana government allowing comedian Munawar Faruqui perform in Hyderabad on August 20. He had threatened to disrupt the show, but was prevented from doing so by the police.
Raja Singh then took to Youtube, and posted his own video making derogatory statements on Prophet Muhammad, which he called a “comedy”. Protests erupted the same day around midnight and continued on August 23 following which the BJP MLA was arrested. The situation got worse in the night when scores of protestors remained on the roads. They remained tense on Wednesday as well.
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