TDP chief and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu demanded a full-fledged inquiry into the alleged ‘third degree’ methods used by the CID against Narsapuram MP K. Raghurama Krishnam Raju.
Naidu asked whether the senior officials were violating the laws of the land and resorting to third degree methods against a Member of Parliament only to see happiness in the eyes of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. If anything would happen to the life of Raghurama Raju, the Andhra government should be held responsible, he said.
In a statement, the TDP chief said that a high-level probe should be ordered into the third degree methods used against the MP and required action should be taken against the CID officer concerned. “The injuries inflicted on Raju in CID custody would hold a mirror to the oppression being perpetrated by the government in the state. How can an honourable MP be put to physical punishment while in police custody?” he questioned.
The TDP chief said that it was inhuman on the part of the police to use third degree methods despite the Supreme Court’s orders against the same. “It would be understandable how the police treated Raghurama Raju since he was not even able to walk with comfort. All the democratic-minded people should condemn this incident and good medical treatment should be given to the MP immediately,” he demanded.
Naidu also said that the Andhra police went in crowds, violating the Covid guidelines issued by the Central Government. “The sole purpose of the state police was to arrest and harass Raju. As per the law, the police had no right to beat up even a common citizen. In this case, a Member of Lok Sabha, elected by lakhs of voters, was subjected to physical punishment. The incident would remain a blot on the entire police machinery in the state,” he said.
Naidu said that such incidents were only exposing how a faction-ridden system would perpetrate injustice on people of all sections. If the police physically attacked a person of MP status, then the plight of a common citizen in the state would be unthinkable, he claimed.
