Telangana: BJP, Hindu orgs protest suspension of cop who abused Muslim woman

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Telangana chief Bandi Sanjay condemned the suspension of police sub-inspector (SI) A Anil. Hindu organisations including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal observed a bandh in the district on Saturday, May 12, protesting the suspension of SI. He was suspended on disciplinary grounds for allegedly abusing a Muslim woman who was travelling on a bus in Jagtial district on Friday.

Meanwhile, SI Anil released a video saying that he is not connected to the political parties extending support to him. “I have been working in this town for the past five years. I worked to enforce law and order. I will face departmental action for the accusations I am facing. Some parties and sections of people are circulating the issue on social media for their own benefit. I do not have anything to do with them,” SI Anil said in a video. He added that he has not committed any crime and has complete faith in the Police Department and said that he believes justice will be served. 

On May 10, a Muslim woman named Shaik Farha complained to the Jagtial police that SI Anil abused her and her mother for refusing to make space for his wife while travelling on an RTC bus in Jagtial. Farha alleged that Anil’s wife abused her for declining her request to share space. She alleged that Anil and a constable stopped the bus and pulled her and  her mother out of the bus. The issue soon gained attention after she released a video narrating the series of events. Jagtial Superintendent of Police Aggadi Bhaskar ordered the suspension of the SI on the same day. 

Days after SI Anil was suspended from his duties, BJP has accused Telangana Chief Minister K Chndrashekar Raoand his Bharat Rashtra Samiti government of resorting to “minority-pleasing tactics". Speaking to the media, Bandi Sanjay alleged, “Anil is both a husband and an SI. He needed to protect his wife and went to the spot only as a husband. A woman wearing burkha has complained against the SI and the government suspended him. Is there any evidence that he abused her? The KCR government submitted itself to the pressure from the AIMIM party (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) and issued suspension orders.”

He also urged people to participate in Hindu Ekta Yatra in Karimnagar on Sunday, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanthi to show the unity of the Hindu community. The event will be attended by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, revealed Bandi Sanjay. He stated that he has also invited The Kerala Story director Sudipto Sen to the rally.