Reacting strongly to the BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind's comments against Siddipet Commissioner of Police Joel Davis, the Telangana State Police Officers Association has threatened legal action if the MP does not apologise for his comments.
The Association president Y Gopi Reddy in a statement to media said the police were doing their duty at the Dubbak Assembly by-polls. Arvind had claimed that the Commissioner was rude and was harassing party workers of the BJP.
"MP Arvind’s statements against Siddipet Commissioner of Police Joel Davis, warning him, using foul language, abusing him and acting in violation of law is unacceptable,” wrote Gopi.
The Association reminded the MP that the Siddipet district police is working under the aegis of the Election Commission for the by-polls.”It’s not suitable as an MP to give police actions a political colour and make unfair comments. We condemn the MP abusing the police who are impartially implementing poll conduct/rules, on the basis of videos circulating on social media without verifying the truth."
The Association further added, “If you doubt the police actions done as part of their duty, they can take it to the notice of the EC. Your comments are detrimental to the motivation of Telangana police. We demand unconditional apology else will take legal action,”
A political row kicked off in Telangana at Siddpet on Monday between the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) and the BJP after the Siddipet police seized Rs 18.67 lakh cash from the residence of Arjun Rao, a relative of the Dubbaka BJP candidate Raghunandan Rao. The cash seizer resulted in several BJP supporters gathering at the residence of Arjun Rao, confronting the police and lotting close to Rs 13 lakh of the seized money. A lathi-charge ensured against the errant BJP workers.
The following day, the Telangana MP known for his communal remarks confronted the Siddipet commissioner, stating that he should remember that the BJP is in power in the Centre. The MP went on to tell Joel, practising Christian faith that, “this is a Hindu rashtram (Hindu country) remember that”
The MP further threatened, “Did you forget that you come under the Department of Personnel and Training guidelines? Did you forget that the BJP is in power in the Centre? Shouldn’t you be careful while performing your duties? But you are behaving like Goonda. Are you an IPS officer?”
Arvind is a first-time MP and is known for his provocative and communal remarks. Earlier in January, he had warned of shaving off the beard of Hyderabad MP and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi by hanging him to a crane.
In the money seizure incident, initially, BJP claimed that the police ‘planted’ the money at Arjun Rao’s residence. The police, however, refuted the comments and released videos of the amount seized from Arjun Rao’s residence to the media. The police said that they issued proper notices before the raid. Meanwhile, five persons involved in the ‘loot’ were arrested by the police.