The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the Andhra Pradesh government over the delay in submitting a report on the arrest of rebel YSRCP Member of Parliament (MP) Raghuramakrishna Raju, who hails from Narsapuram constituency on Tuesday. The NHRC had earlier sought a report from the state government on the arrest of the MP. With no response from the state, on Tuesday, the commission expressed anger over the delay in filing the report and issued conditional summons to the state government. The commission has ordered the state government to submit its report by August 9.
The MP's son Bharat had approached the NHRC, after his father was arrested on sedition charges, by the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (AP CID) in May this year. The NHRC had ordered the Andhra Pradesh DGP to inquire into the MP's allegations of being tortured while in custody. The DGP was supposed to submit the report to the NHRC by June 7, but was delayed.
Earlier in the first week of June, 2021, the MP has also sent a legal notice to the additional director general of police, AP CID demanding that the the articles seized from Raghu Ramakrishna Raju at the time of his arrest by the AP CID, be deposited with the magistrate. The legal notice claimed that the CID police personnel had taken a mobile phone from the MP's residence when he was being arrested but is not mentioned in the records. Stating that the seized mobile phone contains valuable information, his lawyer claimed that Raghu Ramakrishna Raju was subjected to custodial torture in effort to make him divulge the phone unlock code.
Raghu Ramakrishna Raju was arrested on May 14, by the Andhra Pradesh CID on sedition charges. Cases under sections 124A (Sedition), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 505 (Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were filed against him. The rebel MP has been in the public eye for regularly hitting out against his party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy.
(With IANS inputs)